Wish of Worlds: KHR
by Sou desu ka. Meh. Kami korosu
Summary: Kross Imai,a total anime nerd,is bored with her life.Walking home one day she turns down the wrong road and her life is changed forever when she is transported to the KHR world.Throwing away her old life she decides to continue her life as...
1. Chapter 1

Do you know whats hard?

Video gaming.

Not just any video gaming, but _classroom _video gaming.

The type where you're constantly like 'Oh-fuck-I'm-about -to-beat-this-level-but-the-teacher-is-coming-to-check-on-me' video gaming.

The one where your sweating bullets the entire time while glancing nervously at everyone around you. Where you're not allowed to do crazy button mashing or yell out profanities as your character dies for the bajillionth time.

And it's this type of crazy video gaming that our heroine, Kross Imai(or Imai Kross in the Japanese perspective), is currently performing with her PSP. Surely someone should have caught her by now, but no, her teacher was one of the laziest bums she had ever met. He sat there on his fat ass, eating chips, and playing online games instead of teaching students actual frickin' science. Now most people would take this blessing and use it well, but, unfortunately, since Kross is such a hard core gamer she became submerged in her game and forgot one of the most important rules of classroom video gaming-

"Oh, Yeah! Take that you slimy-ass lava spider! I just owned you bitch!"

-quietness...

At this moment everyone in the room froze and looked straight at the very stupid main character of this story, who was now in a victory pose, her PSP evident in her hand. Quickly noticing her mistake Kross spazzed and dove under the table that she shared with three others, hoping with all her might that the lazy bum, known as Mr. Crosetti, hadn't noticed her cry of ownage. However, her hopes were quickly chopped up into bloody little pieces, eaten, and then barfed up as an annoying, nasal voice filled the room.

"Imai!" he boomed (don't you hate it when teachers call you by your last name because they can't bother to learn your first?). "We are currently still in school, so why are you playing video games!" Kross could feel the unsaid threat of her PSP getting taken away and she shivered. She was fine with suspension, even expulsion, but the mere thought of her baby getting taken away almost brought her to tears. Looking up from the ground she was laying on she began to give him her best puppy eyes.

"But Mr. Crosetti, sir, I've already finished the assignment you gave us and the homework. So, I thought I might just play a bit." She was really trying to suck up to him and threw in some sniffles here and there for extra effect. Unfortunately, he wasn't buying it.

"How many times have I told you that your not allowed to bring those video games of yours to this school!" the fat ass had finally decided to stand up this time. Though, he still hadn't moved away from his desk and he stood there tapping away at the surface with his fingers. A devious smile came up on her face as she got up and brushed herself off.

"Really Mr. Crosetti. Let's not be rash. How bout we settle this over a simple game of poker?" She fished out a deck from her back pocket and began waving it back and forth. "If you win I'll comply to any punishment that you wish to give me, but if I win I'll get off scott free." There was now a sweet yet devious smile on her face as she awaited her answer.

Mr. Crosetti paled a bit at the mention of one of her favorite card games. Everyone at American Creek High School knew her for her demonic poker skills. She had scammed many a person when she first arrived at the school and, even though she always upheld her promises, she rarely lost. Mr. Crosetti was one such person to fall victim to her and lost a pretty penny at it as well. Right when he was about to deny her request and put her in detention anyways, the end of school bell rang and Kross grabbed her black and purple Hibari Kyoya messenger bag and dashed out of the classroom, down the hall, and out of sight before the teacher could say a word.

Kross finally slowed to a stop once she was a block away from her school. She cackled about her amazing ninja skillz as she slowly caught her breath. She took a quick look at her KHR bag to make sure it was alright before straightening her clothes and continuing forward. Kross was not just a video game nerd but an anime/manga nerd as well. And even though she dabbled in almost any series you could think if, her all time favorite was Katekyo Hitman Reborn. She had posters, pillows, games, and the anime series all in her room along with all the other nerdy things she kept in there. It actually surprises herself how obsessed she is with it. Even though she had been reading manga for a long time she had not once been obsessed with a series as much as this one. Sometimes she even wished she could go live in the KHR world with all that man candy.

In fact, that was exactly what she was thinking at this exact moment as she walked home. She took her time and day dreamed all she wanted because she knew there'd be no one waiting for her there. It wasn't that her parents were dead, they just had no time for her. And there were no friends to hang out with because she had only been in California for three months and had been automatically labeled weird.

She really wished she could just go back to Italy. It wasn't one of the longest places she had stayed at but it just kind of felt right. It's close second was when she had stayed in Japan, but all the others, China, Britain, Korea, and Africa, just didn't hold a candle against those two. She was always good with languages so it wasn't as if she couldn't understand anyone, but Italy and Japan just seemed to fit. Even the languages sinked in faster then the rest.

She sighed again and tried to get her thought process away from such things as moving and instead turned back to her imagination. A flash of white in her peripheral vision made her stop and turn to look down the side street that was to her left. She had walked past it many times before, yet, this time, something felt different. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off it and soon enough her feet started to take her down it without her realizing. Surely, it wouldn't be to bad to take just a little detour? She would make it home soon enough.

How wrong she was.

The farther she walked the longer the path seemed to grow. It soon lost all the characteristics it had at the beginning and all she could see was the path, darkness engulfed everything else. Feeling that it was about time to turn back and get away from this creepy path, Kross did a quick about-face, ready to walk back.

However, where the path should have been there was nothing but darkness. Squinting into the black, she tried to make out anything familiar. The shadows seemed to writhe under her stare and panic rose up in her body as a tendril of it broke away and began to tug at her shirt. More followed it's example and began to attach themselves to her clothes and her messenger bag. She turned around, breaking away from the darkness, and began to run on the path she could still see, trying to get away from whatever was behind her.

A light ahead made her speed up her frantic pace and she dashed to th opening. She reached her hand out towards the light, as if to grab it, yet, when she went through it it almost felt as if she broke through the surface of water. She panted hard and thrashed on sheets that were strewn about her as she stared up an almost familiar, yet foreign, ceiling. Distant cries from below her made her freeze.

"Tsu-chan~! It's time to wake up!"

It took a while for her brain to process the words, but as soon as she did she quickly bolted upright and looked around the room. There was no doubt. This was the room of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the main character of her favorite anime.


	2. Chapter 2

Even with her brain in shock Kross couldn't help but be curious as to what she looked like in the KHR world. Moving through the sheets to the edge of the bed she got caught, stumbled, and fell off the bed and onto the ground. She had never remembered being so clumsy before. Walking over to the full length mirror in the corner of the room she gasped.

The entire time she had expected (and hoped) that she would be one of the many OC's that she had created and sketched. But no, she wasn't even what she looked like before. In that mirror, staring blankly back at her, was the face of Tsuna. However, that wasn't even the most surprising aspect of her new look. The oh-so-familiar face that was staring back at her was not the face of a boy but that of a girl, if the long messy, brown hair had anything to say about it.

Fingering the night gown she was wearing, she couldn't help but think that it fit with Tsuna's image perfectly. It was a long, orange, almost jersey-like, shirt with a big 27 on the front. Now that she thought about it she never remembered there being any type of mirror in Tsuna's room. When she looked around the room again she noted that there were several more feminine aspects.

She giggled a bit and then finally decided on what she had been pondering about ever since she 'woke up.' She had decided that , since there was no way of knowing if she'd ever get back, she would throw away her old identity of Kross Imai, and would now become the awesome female version of Sawada Tsunayoshi.

At her inward proclamation a wave of memories, and the emotions that came with it, flooded her brain. Overwhelmed by the sudden rush of knowledge Kross leaned against the wall at her side. She stood there for a while as all the life memories of Tsuna, full name Tsunako, filled her up and even began to override even some of her own memories. Kross – no, she was officially Tsuna now, stood up straight as she heard her mom call for her to get up again.

Walking over to her wardrobe she brought out one of the many baggy shirts she had and a pair of baggy shorts to go with it. It seemed as though this Tsuna couldn't stand showing any type of figure considering the size of all her clothes and that she only had sports bras that smashed down her barely B-cup breasts into small A-cups. Tsuna sighed, gave her unruly hair a quick brush, and walked down the stairs.

Despite trying to be careful she still ended up face down in front of the stairs, announcing her presence to all in the vicinity.

"Oh, Tsu-chan, it's good to see you up. I was about to go up and get you." Sawada Nana said, sticking her head out of the kitchen. "Now hurry and eat before the food gets cold." and with that she disappeared back into the kitchen.

Picking her achy body off the floor, Tsuna went into the kitchen to get her food. As she ate breakfast she picked through Kross's memories of the KHR world. From what she could tell her memories went up to about the beginning of the Shimon Arc. Now that she thought about it, shouldn't Reborn be showing up soon? With that thought in her mind she looked up only to notice that her mother had been talking th entire time.

"Huh?" Was all she could say because not one word of what her mother said had registered in her brain. Nana began to pout.

"Mou, Tsu-chan. You should pay attention more. I was just telling you about how I got this cute little flier for a home tutor. His name is Reborn." Tsuna was stunned. The person she had just been thinking of would be soon to arrive. A squeal of delight was heard from her mother and she looked up to see the evil tutor himself standing at the center of the table.

"Ciaossu." he greeted them. "I am your new home tutor Reborn." Tsuna's mother squealed again and started cooing over Reborn. The entire time Tsuna just sat there as her two sides battled over supremacy.

"Wah! So cute~! Augh. What am I doing?" The fan girl part of her had popped up but had been firmly squelched by her common sense. It would be bad if Reborn thought there was something suspicious. "Okaa-san! This is a baby! There's no way he would be able to be my home tutor!" Tsuna rationalized. This made her mother pause in thought but it didn't last long and she was soon going on about how Reborn must be a child genius.

"Besides, Tsu-chan, your father recommended him." Nana said. Bringing her amazing acting skills into play she eyed Reborn skeptically.

"Are you sure, mom? I mean, he doesn't seem much to me." In a flash Reborn was behind her, her arm in hand, and was pushing down on it painfully. "Ite-te-te-te! All right! I'm sorry! I'm sure you'll be a wonderful teacher. The very best!" The intense pain went away and she looked up into the smirking face of Reborn. A sense of dread filled her and she couldn't help but think that her Vongola Hyper Intuition had begun to kick in, or maybe it was just the feeling that all people got when they met Reborn.

"Head up to your room Dame-Tsuna, we have lots of things to go over." All Tsuna could do was nod her head dumbly as she headed back upstairs and wonder how her mother could be so insensitive to her pain.

Once she was inside her room she sat down on one of the cushions around the table. She was quite sure that Reborn was going to inform her about the whole mafia successor thing, that or beat her up for her earlier misconduct. She sighed down at her hands. Maybe her life in KHR wouldn't be as fun as she thought it would be. Now that she thought about it, the life of Tsuna would be dangerous and demanding. She would have to fight a bunch of people (including the numminess of Mukuro and Byakuran) and take a bunch of shit from Reborn. She sighed again thinking about all the wounds that she would get in the imminent future.

Realizing her train of thought was leading to a disastrous end she quickly shook her head and slapped herself mentally. What she would do here was way better then the life she had been living for the past 16 years. She paused at that, according to her memories the body she was currently inhabiting was 14 years old. She had just lost two years of age. Well, that was a bright point.

During Tsuna's whole thought process, her emotions were laid out plainly on her face for Reborn, who was hiding in the corner of the room, to see. If Tsuna had seen him she would surely have thought that he would have caught on to something being wrong, but, really, it only made him think that Tsuna was really as pathetic as she seemed on the report. Was she really this upset that she had a tutor? He shook his head slightly, he would have a lot of work to do.

"Dame-Tsuna," He squeaked out, surprising her out of her thoughts. Panic rose in her at the thought of how long he might have been there. "It's time to tell you why I'm really here." Her panic subsided and she gave him her best confused face.

"What are you talking about, Reborn? You're my home tutor right?" Reborn smirked at her.

"I'm not just any home tutor, Dame-Tsuna. I am the world's greatest hitman and I've come to train you to become the Vongola Family's Tenth Generation Boss." Unable to scrounge even the simplest emotion she just stared at him blankly. Reborn returned it with one of his own and it would have continued if Tsuna hadn't broken it off with a shattered reply.

"Y-you're kidding, right? I mean, your what? Five years old? Stop being silly." Reborn's eyes held a dangerous glint to them and Tsuna began to sweat a bit as Leon turned into a familiar green gun. With one steady move the barrel of the gun was pointed at the center of her forehead.

"I'm telling you now, I am completely serious." Reborn's tone sent chills down her spine. She steeled herself as much as she could, she had chosen this and there was no going back.


	3. Chapter 3

Tsuna felt drained as she walked to school that day. Reborn's explanations about the mafia and Vongola Family was actually pretty complicated and the whole 'all the other successors died and you're the only one left' really hit her hard. Her head was so full of doubts that she didn't notice the barking of a dog until it came to stand right in front of her. Looking down at the evil chihuahua she froze. Kross's love of animals clashed with Tsuna's innate fear of them until, finally, she crouched down and held out a shaking palm.

"I-it's ok. Come here doggy, be good." The dog stopped growling, looking confused. After a moment it came forward and thrust it's snout onto her palm, taking a big whiff. It sneezed and she flinched but calmed back down when it took a quick lick of her palm. She rubbed it's head hesitantly before getting up and walking on, legs shaking slightly. When she was a good deal away she heaved a relieved sigh. She would really have to work on getting rid of the Original Tsuna's influences if she didn't want to continue doing such embarrassing things.

"Scared of a chihuahua, Dame-Tsuna?" Tsuna flinched to a stop and whirled around towards the sound of Reborn's voice. He stood there on the wall, his usual smirk in place, as he looked down at her. An ashamed blush came across her face and she suddenly found her hands very interesting. A slight frown flickered across Reborn's face and then disappeared. He would need to work on her confidence. "Dame-Tsuna, you're going to be late."

That brought her head up. Panic welled up inside her as she thought of what Hibari might do to her. Hibari might be hot but she did _not_ want to be bitten to death. Tsuna began to jog, praying with all her might that she wouldn't be late.

O0o

She wasn't late, but she sure wasn't happy to be there. Even though it was a little different most of the things that they were being taught were things that she had already learned as Kross. So she spent the entire time thinking about what she remembered would happen would happen in this world and her 'secret project.' Most of the stuff that she thought about were things she wanted to change, like the whole Mukuro being locked up for ten or so years thing. That was really to cruel. Catching herself in the middle of another depressed sigh she knew she had to change her thought process. So she tried to think of all the good things on this world. Like the super hot man candy.

Her mind turned devious as she thought of all the things she could get away with under her guise of 'innocence.' She barely held in a smirk as she thought about the position she had been put in, which was prime for man picking. Her eyes swept across her classroom, looking for Yamamoto, but landed on Sasagawa Kyoko instead. Tsuna's mind had a big influence on Kross' considering that this was ,like, the twentieth time that day.

Female Tsuna saw her as a sort of role model instead of a love interest like with male Tsuna. She was always watching her when she wouldn't get caught, hoping to learn something that would make people hate her less. Tsuna sighed again, slumping further into her chair. The memories she had inherited weren't exactly the best. Her childhood was fraught with perils that Kross hadn't even thought about.

Sifting through her entire childhood she began to pick out unusual events that she could link to the mafia. Like the one time when she was playing in the park and this guy offered her a piece of candy (he was obviously trying to kidnap her) and called her the 'Vongola kid.' Tsuna had no idea how the original Tsuna hadn't come to the conclusion before. In fact, there was no other conclusion made then that they 'weren't normal.' Apparently Tsuna hadn't been as safe as it seemed.

Shaking herself out of these thoughts she looked around for Yamamoto again. She found him a little off to the side in the back. He seemed to be sleeping as he hid behind a propped up text book on his desk. A small smile on her face showed a bit of what she was feeling as she turned away to look out the window. Yamamoto was so cute!

The end-of-school bell rang, effectively breaking through her thoughts as she packed up and headed home. Reborn hadn't done a thing to her yet and Tsuna was beginning to wonder when chapter one in the events of KHR would happen. It had been a week since Reborn had arrived and all that's happened is her getting a lecture on the Vongola and a taste of his spartan tutoring.

Not that she could complain, she was starting to organize all the things she remembered and getting used to her new life as Tsuna, not to mention her 'secret project.' Though she did wonder what would happen when all the chapters she had read would become obsolete. She had no idea what would happen after the last chapter she had read and what about her actions in this world? Would it cause a ripple effect and slowly change what would happen until she couldn't rely on the manga anymore? Things were a lot more complicated then she thought they would be.

She was at her house now and she quickly snuck past her mother to head up to her room. It was still weird for her to be greeted so cheerily when she came home from school after she was so used to being greeted by silence and solitude. She plopped down on her bed backwards as she contemplated her new existence. All of a sudden three small beeps accompanied by a buzz made her freeze. Was that what she thought it was?

Springing onto her knees she quickly sifted through the area that the sound had come from. There sitting amongst the blankets was her itouch. Her precious, precious itouch. Tears welled at the corner of her eyes as she snatched it up and turned on the screen. Flipping through it she noted that everything was still there, and it still had access to WIFI. Which was weird. What was her itouch doing here anyways when nothing else that she had been carrying (or wearing for that matter) had come over to this world with her? Was she going to slowly get them over time by randomly finding them like an easter egg hunt?

The three rings and a buzz sounded again and her eyes widened as she looked down at what it said. Her weekly reports of the new KHR chapter were still running on her itouch! She wanted to read it right away, but, first things first, she needed to make sure Reborn wouldn't pop up in the middle of it. Time to deploy her 'secret project.' Taking a deep, calming breath she closed her eyes. Sensing for something, anything, that would bring in those lights that she had become accustomed to looking for. After a good deal of time two flames flickered to life in the darkness of her inner eye.

They were both downstairs and the smaller colorless flame flickered back and forth jovially as the large yellow flame glowed brightly. With a gasp of air her concentration broke and the light died away as she opened her eyes. It had taken hours of staring into space to learn how to do that and it still wasn't finished. What she had just done was her best attempt yet ans she barely held it up for 10 seconds. Not knowing how much time she would have she quickly laid down on the bed to read. She was tense the entire as she waited for Reborn to pop in, so, by the time she had finished, and there was no Reborn, she was a blissful blob on her bed.

She hadn't known how much she had missed beautiful technology, such as her itouch, until now. She was sure if it continued on much more then she would be doomed. She went through it again, checking all the things she used regularly. Her fingers paused when she came to her favorite manga reading APP, _MangaPop _(I made it up so I have no idea if there really is such a thing). For some reason she couldn't access it. She tried everything she could think of to get in so she could read her precious manga. She even tried to bring up an old chapter that she had downloaded a while ago.

She wasn't able to get it up and running.

The shock of her inability to bring up any manga other then KHR had finally caught up to her and she was frozen on the spot. She was stuck there for several minutes before another set of beeps registered in her mind and when she looked down at it she nearly had a heart attack. A big green sign had popped up on her itouch and it read "System Overhaul."

Thinking she might lose everything on her itouch she acted fast and brought up the program that she had downloaded onto her software and began to do what looked like random button pushing to most people but she was actually hacking the system. Once an overhaul on the system started there was no way to stop it without hacking it.

To Tsuna's growing frustration she was unable to stop the process and she could only sit back and watch as her itouch set about killing itself from within. A minute later the overhaul was over and Tsuna went about assessing the damage with a heavy heart. For some weird reason, nothing was gone, it had just switched over to Japanese. She continued on through her itouch until she yet again arrived at _MangaPop._ She clicked on it and was surprised to find it actually working.

As she went over the newest chapters of the mangas she had been following she couldn't help but break out into laughter. The names and appearances were changed slightly, just enough to avoid law suits if it was shown in a chapter or episode. Tsuna convulsed in her bed as she tried to hold in her laughter, best not to make Reborn wander up here to find out what was happening. This was the reason she couldn't get onto _MangaPop_! Because the images hadn't been filtered! Soon her laughter subsided and she lay, out of breath, on her bed. She had really needed that.

Ever since she had come to this world she had done nothing but think and worry. This was a fictional world, kind of, and that was shown through the overhaul of her itouch. It was time to stop thinking for now, to just go with the flow, and everything would be dealt with when she came to it. She was still a kid after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Tsuna lay face down on the floor, pain radiating throughout her body as she cursed her stupidity in every language she knew. She had been so happy and content about what happened yesterday that when she fell asleep it had been deep. Tsuna's inner clock, that had transferred over to this body from Kross, was put on snooze and she hadn't woken up early like usual.

She had slept in.

Which was bad.

Especially with Reborn as an ever present alarm clock.

Of _pain._

So there she lay. Cursing herself, Reborn, and whatever asshole deity that was put in charge of her life. Picking herself up off the ground she turned around to face Reborn, a half glare half pout on her face. Reborn just smirked down ather.

"Dame-Tsuna. You're going to be late." Was the only thing that left bis mouth but it was enough to make her fall into a frantic state as she went around quickly getting ready for school. As stated before, Hibari is hot but not worth getting beaten up for. She rushed out of her room as soon as her uniform was in place and headed down to the kitchen. Her mother tried to intercept her as she grabbed a piece of toast but brushed her off with a quick 'I'mma be lat!' and bolted out the door. Her mother could only tutt at the door about her daughter's deplorable grammar and not very lady-like actions. Tsuna had run half of her route to school before she lost all energy and leaned, panting, against the wall.

'Reborn...is...so..._horrible_!' was all she could think as she looked down at the clock on her itouch. She had actually left earlier then usual! Even though she woke up at 6:30 every morning she didn't leave for school until the very last minute she would get into class just as the bell rang. But now here she was, half way to school, with enough time to socialize with others.

If she had friends.

Which she didn't.

Joy.

She chewed slowly on the bread in her mouth as she leaned against the wall. Since she was early she could just wait here and people watch until she had to start walking again. This sounded like a great plan to her so she shifted into a more comfortable position on the wall and readied to watch the passerbys.

_'Wow! That girl's hair is crazy! It's like a craft store threw up on her.'_

_'Oh,cool! That guy looks like grandpa Cliff. I've only met him, like, once before but this dude totally looks like him.'_ she thought happily. _'Though the eyebrows seem wrong. This guy's eyebrows are smooth while grandpa's are rough. Man, if only it was the same.'_

_ 'Ah, that's kendo-senpai and Sasa...gawa...chan. Oh, shit!'_

Tsuna began to choke on the last bit of bread she had in her mouth as the implications of what she saw set in. She had been avoiding Kyoko in the morning since she came here so Reborn wouldn't force her to do something embarrassing. As if on cue Reborn appeared on her shoulder with a thump. Tsuna froze in place, refusing to turn her head and acknowledge Reborn and hoping that he would just go away. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

"Dame-Tsuna, what was it about those two that made you almost choke to death?" Tsuna stayed silent, hoping that with it he wouldn't pry further. But this is Reborn we're talking about and there is no way that he would leave it alone. So, really, she was just buying herself some time before she had to inevitably come up with a passable excuse of half lies half truths. A painful stomp on her shoulder by Reborn signaled the end of her extra time and she quickly stuttered out a reply.

"E-etto, it's just that that was Sasagawa-chan and...'_Crap, I forgot his name! He's such a small character that I didn't bother remembering...' _ ….um, a senpai in the kendo club. I think that senpai is trying to get Sasagawa-chan to date him but... um ….. you see.." She paused and Reborn kicked her impatiently on the head so she would get on with it. "I've-seen-senpai-with-other-girls-around-town-and-I-think-that-he'll-try-and-take-advantage-of-Sasagawa-chan's-kindness!" She pieced together quickly in one breath, hoping that the pieced together truth would be good enough to keep Reborn off her case. Luckily, she had seen Kendo-senpai macking with a bunch of different as she was walking home for the last few days.

Reborn looked at her thoughtfully before an evil smirk came onto his face. Tsuna looked at him questioningly but Reborn said nothing of what was on his mind as he jumped off her shoulder and onto the wall she had been leaning on.

"Better start moving Dame-Tsuna, before you're really late." Was the last thing he said before he began walking towards the school. Tsuna turned to follow, grumbling all the way.

She could tell that Reborn was thinking something devious and it was the reason exactly why she didn't want to see Kyoko in the morning. Seeing Kyoko in the morning is always what sets off the events of the story and that ultimately leads to pain. And pain is best to be avoided. Reborn soon disappeared from sight and Tuna couldn't help but sigh as she picked up her pace. Hibari means pain too.

* * *

><p>(after school)<p>

Tsuna slumped in her seat as the last bell of the day rang and students began to file out and head home. Tsuna didn't feel like moving just yet so she sat at her desk with her head resting on the surface of her desk as she tried shaking off the stress of the day. She had never been hated at school before. Well, sure, people had avoided her all the time when she was Kross but it's not like they hated her. They just thought that she was weird. The sound of female voices drifted over to where she was resting and it made her ears perk up at the new information she was about to hear.

"Kyoko-chan is so lucky~!" A girl form her class squealed as she talked to her best friend. "Mochida-senpai is definitely going to ask her out today. Augh, I would kill to date him." The confused voice of her friend came soon after.

"Wait, are you sure? I mean they have been talking a lot lately but …." Her voice drifted off and you could feel the disappointment in her words. Her words affected her friends mood as well.

"I'm sorry. I know you really liked him but I saw him walking with her. Probably taking her home." The two friends fell into silence. Everyone knew that when a guy walked you home you were either dating or the guy really liked you. A set of disappointed sighs rang out before the door was slid open and they were gone.

Tsuna sat up, thinking about what she had just heard. Her gut told her that she should tell Kyoko and maybe even out him to the whole school. People like him really pissed her off and made her want to get back at them. But the again, that was a hassle. Even though her Tsuna memories saw Kyoko as a role model the Kross part of her, which was more dominant by now, didn't really have any connections to her. With a sigh she dropped her head back down onto the desk and stared out the window. Despite trying to shake off her thoughts of Kyoko and Mochida (whom she had finally heard the name of) it stayed at the back of her mind and just wouldn't go away. It was like listening to the tick of an analog clock as you tried to go to sleep, and minuscule thing that no matter what you can't drown out. Finally, in frustration, Tsuna grabbed her bag and dashed out of the room. Hopefully, she would be able to get there before he popped the question.

Reborn smirked as he watched his student dash out, a look of determination on her face. Leon morphed back into a lizard and settled back onto his hat. It seemed he wouldn't need to shoot her, yet.

* * *

><p>(random street, random neighborhood)<p>

Tsuna had been running for a while now and her legs were beginning to tire out. However, she didn't let up because she feared that she may be to late to stop Mochida from asking Kyoko out. She was just about to finish running past the park when something in her peripheral vision made her skid to a stop. Kyoko was there, in the park, sitting on a bench. She composed herself as much as she could before walking towards Kyoko and stopping in front of her. Kyoko looked up at her with a confused expression that wasn't all hat surprising since she had never really approached her till now.

"Sasagawa-chan, is Mochida-senpai gone?" Tsuna said as she glanced around the area for him. Kyoko looked at her questioningly before replying.

"No. He just went to go get us some drinks." She said as she looked off aways in the direction of where the vendors usually were. Tsuna gave a quick nod.

"Good." She said as she grabbed Kyoko and pulled her up off the bench before bringing her behind some trees near by.

"Sawada-chan, what..." She said before Tsuna hushed her.

"Sasagawa-chan, do you like Mochida-senpai. And I'm not talking about liking him as a person but liking him personally. Like a crush." Tsuna apprehensively watched as Kyoko blushed but was relieved when she shook her head no. "Well, he's going to try asking you out, if not today then soon, and I want you to be aware of what he's really like. He's currently dating at least two other girls and makes out with even more on a daily basis. I don't know how he hasn't been caught yet considering he's pretty obvious about it but he hasn't. So I want you to be careful when dealing with him alright?" Kyoko seemed in thought when she finished and Tsuna had to wait a bit before getting her response.

"Are you sure Sawada-chan? I mean, he's been very nice so far..." She let the sentence hang as her eyes shifted towards the direction that he would be returning from at any minute. "Well, do you have proof that he is actually doing this." She paused again as a flustered blush appeared on her cheeks. "Not that I'm saying you're lying or anything because you've never lied to me before. I just..." She stopped there and stared at her feet.

Tsuna was stumped. She had never thought that she would need any proof of Mochida kissing other girls. After all, she was supposed to have been an outsider with this thing. Just then she heaard a sound and looked up to see several pieces of paper fall from the sky and one landed on top of her head directly on her face. When she picked it up to see what it was she was looking straight Mochida macking with a random girl. A quick investigation showed that they were all pictures of him kissing several different girls and each on had a time and date print on them. This is exactly what she needed!

She quickly handed them over to Kyoko who had been watching her with a bit of confusion. However, as soon as she looked down at the pictures a furious look came about her and her grip on the pictures tightened and they began to crumple. With a bit of effort she reigned it on to a simple look of determination and after handing back the papers to her she walked back down to the bench and sat down.

Tsuna could barely hold in her grin as she began to sneak out of the park and head home. A piece of paper floated down from the sky and landed on the road in front of her much the same way as the pictures did and Tsuna bent down to pick it up with a bit of apprehension. What it said was simple but still sent chills down her spine.

**You're late for study time.**

Tsuna bolted down the road as she tried to get to her home as soon as she could. Study time was set down by Reborn pretty early and even though it was meant to make her smarter and have her do better in school (which she was but not because of Reborn) it actually made her even more stupid. The penalties were horrible and Reborn seemed to take a deep satisfaction in causing her pain. Tsuna began to wonder if it was truly worth it to help Kyoko out when she was now faced with a sure to be violent Reborn in her room. Yeah, not so much.


	5. Chapter 5

Tsuna dragged her feet across the sidewalk as she walked to school that morning. Reborn had been especially brutal for yesterdays 'study time' since she had been late and the ensuing pains from that made her slightly disoriented in the morning and because of it she was now stuck with in her seat with five minutes before the bell rang. It was at times like this that she wished that she would remember to carry around a book in her school bag. Thinking back on it the only books that she had seen in Tsuna's room were mangas and school books. Oh well, it's not like she liked books much anyways. Just as she pulled herself out of her inner ramblings she heard the same voices of yesterday that had alerted her to Kyoko's soon-to-be demise.

"I still don't believe her!" One of the girls said as she sat on her friend's desk. The friend gave a little sigh.

"I know, but this is Kyoko-chan we're talking about. She wouldn't just throw juice on him if she wasn't sure that he was cheating on a bunch of girls." The girl said reasonably. The other girl gave a sad sigh.

"Yeah. Kyoko-chan wouldn't lie about stuff like that..." The first girl trailed off. "But I really liked him. And if Mochida is a cheater then I don't know what I'm gonna do. I've liked him for so long."

"The you'll just have to get over him and move onto a better guy. Why not pick someone in our class?" She suggested. "I mean, Yamamoto-kun is very cute."

Tsuna stopped listening at that as she tried to hold in her laughter. She didn't think that Kyoko would do _that_! Well, I guess as the saying goes 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' Another bout of laughter racked her body trying to get out as she thought about how Mochida had been gone buying her _juice_ when she went to talk to Kyoko. But then she sobered up a bit. Mochida wasn't going to take this lying down and if it followed the chapter it would end up with her fighting him in a kendo match. So, Tsuna decided that today she would try to blend into the background as much as she could and hopefully avoid being spotted by anyone.

It was not so. Despite trying to be inconspicuous she was called on in every class several times and people seemed to laugh at her more. So, by the time the lunch bell rang and she brought out the lunch she had made (her mother demanded it of her) she was depressed and annoyed. Why hadn't her plan worked at all? It just made no sense. It didn't seem like her day could get any worse. But lo and behold there was Mochida bursting through the door with his following closely behind him. Why, oh why was she hated so much?

He headed straight for Kyoko, who was eating with Kurokawa, and stopped right in front of them. When Kyoko looked up at him she seemed nervous but there was still a bit of the determination from yesterday in her. This wasn't going to be goo, Tsuna noted a she looked at Mochida who was obviously trying to hold back his anger.

"How dare you spread rumors that I'm a player!" He yelled at her. "Do you know how much trouble that that stupid lie is putting me through! Tell them that you were lying! That it isn't true!" He said menacingly as he towered over the two girls. Kyoko seemed shaken but she still tried to protest.

"I-it wasn't a lie! I saw proof and..."She couldn't go on as his glare grew darker. He slammed his hands onto her desk and leaned forward.

"You're a lier and all these people should know you for who you are." he whispered to her. "I could turn all your friends away from you in a second as long as I gave a good enough reason for your lie and you know it. If you give up now and say that it's a lie I won't do it. And for my trouble why don't you go out with me. It's only fair after all these nasty things you've said about." Kyoko seemed frozen in her seat and even though she opened her mouth nothing came out. Seeing her friends distress Kurokawa spoke up.

"She wasn't lying, Mochida. You're total scum and there is no way that she would ever date someone like you. Now get lost." She said as she moved a little closer to Kyoko as if to try and shield her. This only seemed to enrage him and he took an intimidating step closer but stopped before doing anything when he heard mutinous whispers around him.

The few people that had stayed in the classroom to eat seemed angered at the way that he was treating Kyoko and this put a stop in his plans. If he hurt Kyoko or her friend then his reputation would be ruined so he had to find an escape goat and fast. His gaze swept the room and landed right on Tsuna was sitting with a bite of her lunch half way to her mouth. Tsuna gulped nervously as a predatorial gleam entered his eyes.

"It was you wasn't it! The one who lied and told her that I was hanging around with other girls!" He yelled as he pointed a finger at her. Everyone turned to stare at her too and all the protests about the way he was acting disappeared. After all, people may like Kyoko but they certainly don't like Tsuna. "I saw you talking to her behind those trees at the park and I bet you told her those lies then." he eyed her up and down for a minute before a smug smirk came onto his face. "I get it. You have a crush on Kyoko-chan and you knew that she was going to go out with me soon so you lied to her so she wouldn't. Fine then, if you're so set on getting her then I'll fight you for her! Winner gets to date Kyoko-chan!"

"...Eh?"

"I can't believe Dame-Tsuna swings that way." He snorted as his lackeys chuckled around them. Even some of the people in the class chuckled. But it all stopped when she let out a sound that surprised everyone so much that they had to do a double take.

Tsuna was laughing. A total head flung back peal of laughter that resounded through the entire room since everyone went quiet. It soon became to much for her and she crumpled over her desk, her laughter never ceasing. Tsuna had never once thought that she would be accused of being lesbian. She had nothing against them but pretty much the whole reason she wanted to come over to this world was because of the men. It was just too much. Tears were collecting at the corner of her eyes and her laughter only stopped when Mochida came over and yanked her up by her collar.

"What the hell is wrong with you! I only challenged you to a fight with Kyoko-chan!" He seethed as he glared down at the girl in front of him. Tsuna was gasping for air and she still had a smile on her face when she answered him.

"I'm not lesbo." She gasped out before bursting out into another set of giggles and didn't stop until Mochida began to shake her. "Alright, alright. Stop that already. Look, I'll fight you if you want because what you just said really made my day. But if I win then you have to leave her alone and admit that you're a user. And I do _not_ have a crush on Kyoko-chan." Mochida smirked down at her in satisfaction before dropping her back into her seat.

"The fight will be tomorrow after school in the gym. And you better be there or I'll find you later and it won't be pleasant." Then he turned around and haughtily strode out of the room with his croneys in tow.

Tsuna sighed. Little of her good mood from before was left as she thought about the predicament she just put herself in. She was supposed to be avoiding pain, no inviting it. She picked up the chopsticks that she had dropped during her laughing fit and was about to go back to her lunch when someone standing beside her caught her attention. Kyoko was standing there, unshed tears in her eyes, and shaking hands clenched in front of her. She was biting her lower lip as she bowed low to Tsuna.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this Sawada-chan. You did me a favor by warning me about Mochida-senpai and now he wants to fight you." The tears looked like they were going to fall any second now. "I'm sorry." Her voice had become small and it wavered before dying out. Tuna quickly stood up, hands waving back and forth in front of her.

"You don't need to apologize Sasagawa-chan! You deserved to know and it _was_ originally me who started it all so it's actually fitting that I should be the one to end it as well. I should be the one saying sorry since you ended up being a prize." She said the last part angrily as she tried to calm Kyoko down. Kyoko smiled up at her and wiped away her tears.

"Thank you, Tsuna-chan." Tsuna's eyes widened as she heard the last part. Kyoko had never called her by her first name before, at least not in any of the memories Kross had gotten. Noticing Tsuna's surprise Kyoko blushed and brought her hands up in a smaller mimic of Tsuna's earlier movements. "Oh, you don't mind me calling you like that right? If you do I won't, but..." Kyoko went silent as Tsuna put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine Kyoko-chan. And I'm glad I was able to help you." She gave wide grin and pumped her fist. "Now all I have to do is beat Mochida and we can leave it all behind us!" Kyoko could only blink dumbly for a second before a matching smile adorned her face and she pulled Tsuna into a hug. Who knew Dame-Tsuna could be so reliable?

0o0

"Who knew Dame-Tsuna could be so reliable." Reborn said darkly as he sipped his coffee. Tsuna was sweating bullets and sitting Seiza style as Reborn sized her up. "So, Dame-Tsuna what happened to you that allowed you to burst out of your shell like that." It was a demand, not a question, and both of them knew it.

Tsuna was severely regretting her actions now. I mean, it's not like she can just tell him that she was so surprised by what Mochida had said that the small bit of original Tsuna's presence ( that just won't leave her alone!) had been blown away for those few seconds that she had answered him back? Hah, not likely. Her inner musing were cut short when a dangerous sound was heard and she looked up into the barrel of Reborn's gun.

"Gah! I'm sorry! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" She said as she frantically back ed away from the gun. Reborn smirked in satisfaction before letting Leon turn back into his original form and placing the chameleon on his hat. It was now or never. "I-I guess y-you could say that I – that I snapped. I really a-admire Kyoko-chan and the fact that he not only tried to use her but when things started going down the drain for him he started blaming me and everyone just _went_ with it." Tsuna scrubbed at her eyes. Why did she feel like crying? This was just supposed to be an act. "I'm used to being ignored and bullied but what he did just made me so mad and I – I dunno..." _Damn, they were leaking out now. That wasn't supposed to happen! _"I'm sorry." _Why am I apologizing! This isn't supposed to be happening! Stupid puberty! _

Tsuna had stopped talking entirely at this point as she tried to get her tears under control. She hadn't cried in years and it was confusing for her to be crying right now. Maybe it was something left over from original Tsuna? After all, she hadn't really gotten rid of the last bit of her influence that made her more meek and cautious. She spared a quick glance up at Reborn and froze. Reborn's face was as blank and emotionless as ever but for some reason Tsuna felt like she detected something. Some sort of emotion that usually isn't there but she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Was that disappointment? Regret? This made her tears stop as she straightened up and looked Reborn in the eye.

"I don't regret my decision Reborn." She said, her eyes hardening just like her voice. A moment of silence followed before a smirk appeared on Reborn's face.

"I never said a thing about it Dame-Tsuna. Now hurry and wash your face or we'll be late for Maman's dinner. And I really don't think she would be happy to see tear streaks on your face." He said before standing up and disappearing out her bedroom door leaving Tsuna to blink confusedly to herself before heading into the bathroom.

As she cleaned her face of any trace of the tears she shed earlier she couldn't help but think back to what she had seen earlier. How had she sensed Reborn's emotions like that? She never remembered Tsuna being able to do that. Well, Tsuna couldn't do the dying will sensing either now that she thought about it. But for some reason she felt that she had missed something in the emotions that she had sensed earlier. She was pretty sure it was one of those but maybe they weren't directed at her? Yeah right. She was a total failure since Reborn got here so it really shouldn't have been to much of a surprise. Well, she shouldn't worry about it then because Reborn hadn't given up on boy Tsuna( who was ten times worse then her) so he wouldn't give up on her either. With that said and done with she headed down for dinner.

If Tsuna had really thought about what she had seen then she might have noticed that it was not her that they were directed at but her words. He was disappointed in the fact that an actual candidate was left in such a state even if there was very little that she would be called to become one. With the way that the mafia is they should have put at least a little effort into making her more of a boss material. There was also a bit of regret in there that he hadn't been able to do anything for her when she started crying. After all, he was a hit man not a baby sitter. But really, now that he thought about it, she hadn't gotten the nickname Dame-Tsuna because she was all that annoying, stupid or useless, just that she has so low self esteem that she couldn't do anything. It was practically non-existent.

That was the reason for the emotions that Tsuna had been able to sense. In fact, it had surprised him that she had been able to see them. He was a seasoned assassin and yet he was read by a little girl that had known him for barely a week. Yes, she was showing promise even if she hadn't been able to read them as properly as he would've wanted her to.

Unknown to him she had thought back on what she had seen and even though she couldn't figure it out entirely at least she had looked back at it. And it was her hyper intuition that had made her look back at her first diagnosis. Not that she would have ever realized the real reason at this point. Tsuna was way to dense to figure out that Reborn had actually _cared_. In fact, it wasn't till after dinner that she remembered that she had been originally trying to make it so that Reborn didn't suspect her about anything.

Stupid, dense, Dame-Tsuna.


	6. Chapter 6

Tsuna opened bleary eyes and reached out to her bed-side table with a yawn. It got to her alarm clock just in time for her to shut it off. The poor thing. Why did she bother setting the thing when she always woke up before it anyways? Pulling on her uniform she made her way carefully down the stairs, only tripping once. She slipped into the kitchen to make her lunch and froze at the sight before her.

Reborn was sitting there sipping his coffee, which was a normal enough thing. But what really caught her eye was the stick thin Leon that sat on the brim of his hat. Snapping out of her surprised daze she walked over to the counter and began preparing her lunch as well as a light breakfast for herself and Reborn which had become a recent habit. Her mother had said that as a woman she needed to practice her cooking skills so she would be able to make her future husband meals, which so~ wasn't gonna happen. However, despite trying her best to ignore what she had seen, the furtive glances that she sent over to Leon just weren't cutting it for her curiosity.

"Reborn?" She asked as she placed the food into her bento box. He tilted his head just enough to show that he was listening. "What happened to your lizard? He looks anemic." Reborn hadn't told her Leon's name yet or the fact that he was actually a chameleon so Tsuna thought it was best just to play ignorant. Reborn pinned her with stare.

"He is a chameleon, not a lizard, and his name is Leon." He said and Tsuna looked at him closely like she had the other day before paling. He seemed irritable for some reason. Was Reborn not a morning person? But that didn't seem to make sense since he had been fine all the other mornings, especially when he had to wake her up.

"Ah...ok." Tsuna said awkwardly. "But why is Leon so skinny? He's normally a little wider." She indicated this with her hands.

"I don't believe that it's any of your business." Reborn's eyes had turned dark but there was a definite satisfaction in them and it laced his words as well. "Now stop talking to me, I had to stay up late last night to put some things in motion that will prove to be fun." There was a grimly amused smile on his face now and he directed all his attention to her. "Now give me my breakfast so I can go to sleep." He demanded.

Even without his green Leon gun he was still intimidating and she quickly brought him his food before bolting out the door. A sleep-deprived Reborn wasn't someone that she wanted to be around. She slowed down about a block away from her house and scratched her head. She had a weird feeling that she was forgetting something but when she went to look through the stuff that she usually brought with her to school she found that nothing was missing. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she just couldn't shake the feeling off.

* * *

><p>(At School)<p>

The day continued normally with Tsuna ignoring the world and the students being bored out of their minds. However, Tsuna noticed a slight difference between todays chatter and gossip and that of the normal stuff. People seemed to be whispering and pointing at her more then usual today and though most of them seemed harmless enough she could see several hostile faces in the crowd. It confused the crap out of her because there really wasn't anything exciting about her life that people could gossip about.

The chatter slowly began to rise in volume as the school day was coming to a close and it didn't fully click with her about what they were talking bout until Kyoko and Kurokawa came up to her after the bell and wished her luck. And then Tsuna's quiet world came crashing down around her as she wondered how she could have completely forgotten about the fight. She had even forgotten about Mochida's existence for a bit there.

She took a big gulp as she wondered what she was going to do. She couldn't exactly rely on Reborn since he was probably still sleeping off his all nighter in the hammock he had set up in her room. So all she could do was rely on what she already had with her. Which meant her memories. Kross had been in quite a few fights since they kind of came with being a big-mouthed outcast. It was the same big mouth that had gotten her into this fight with Mochida.

Now, normally, Kross would just go with the flow and would usually end up winning through one devious mean or another but there was a big difference in this fight. One was the body type. Kross had a body that was used to fighting pretty much ever since she was born and was used to physical punishment, i.e. running laps, push ups, etc., but Tsuna's body wasn't. Next was that she was going to be fighting in front of a crowd where everyone would see if she used any underhanded means of winning. And finally, this was the big one, she had _no idea_ how to fight with a sword.

So it was with a depressed sigh that she slid open her classroom door with her bag in hand and wondering how she might be able to get out of it. All thoughts of escape exited her mind at that moment as she was surrounded a group of Mochida's lackeys that were obviously there to make sure she went straight to the gym and didn't try to escape. She hugged her book bag securely to her chest as she tried to make herself as minuscule as possible during her trip to the gym, which was actually pretty embarrassing as the people she passed by seemed to love yelling stuff out at her. Most of them being insults.

As she entered the gym an excited murmur went through the huge crowd that was waiting inside. It seemed like most of the school had come and, if the faces of Yamamoto and Ryohei were anything to go by, the clubs were also paused for the days so the students could attend and watch. The crowd between her and the match ring parted so she could pass and Tsuna wished that she could just blend into the floor.

A grinning Mochida gestured over to a pile of supplies that was obviously supposed to be used by her and she walked stiffly over to it. If her memory served her right then both the armor and the sword were weighted down so that she wouldn't be able to pick it up. Tsuna gingerly grabbed hold of the shinai and gave it an experimental tug. Her eyes widened in surprise as the wooden sword came right up without a hitch and then they narrowed in anger.

_'That little fucker!'_ She seethed. _'He probably thinks that just because I'm a girl he doesn't have to take any precautions with me! Well, I'll make him regret _that_ decision.' _

Placing the sword back down she went to the armor and began to try and put it on. After a few minutes of frustrated fiddling, with several impatient jeers from the audience, she threw it down in a huff. She picked up the sword and headed back to the middle of the ring where Mochida was waiting for her with an amused smirk. The armor would only slow her down anyways.

"Having trouble, Dame-Tsuna?" He asked before his smirk turned more predatorial. "Why don't you give up now and admit that you were lying. Everything will go back to normal and I'll take good care of Kyoko." Tsuna stiffened at the obvious degrading tone.

"Of course I'm having trouble. I've never even touched any of these things before now." She defended herself as she situated herself for the fight. "And why would I just let Kyoko-chan date someone like you! You already have a few other girls. You have no reason to go after Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna watched as Mochida froze at the accusation and how the crowd seemed to get more restless. It seemed that what he feared the most was that everyone would turn against him. Anger entered his face as he glared at Tsuna and she gulped. There was going to be a _lot _of pain.

"Dame-Tsuna is lying!" He yelled out to the crowd before turning back to Tsuna. "Enough of your lies! Let's start the match already." he pointed his shinai at her. "Since I'm being nice all you have to do is get one ippon and you'll win." With that he nodded towards the judge who gave him a grin and started the match.

Mochida dashed forward and brought up his shinai for a downward strike at Tsuna. It had come so fast and unexpectedly that she reflexively brought up her own shinai to block it and then sorely regretted not just running away from it as the power behind the blow made her arm tremble and it took all she had to keep her ground against Mochida who was pushing down on her form above. She began to slide backwards as basic physics took affect and Mochida's taller stature, heavier wight, and stronger blow began to push her back. It didn't help that her school shoes had little to no grip.

In a last ditch effort she pushed Mochida's sword off to the side and put a good distance between them. After steadying himself Mochida turned to face Tsuna and tried, yet again, to charge at her. However, this time his sword met air as Tsuna began a tactical retreat. And, no, it was _not_ 'running away'. Mochida was soon hot on her heels as she ran around the ring. She barely evaded capture and there were many a time when she felt the deadly swoosh of his shinai just barely missing contact with her skin.

People were crowded around the edges of the ring and before Tsuna could side step she had tripped over a foot traitorously sticking out of the crowd and landed face first. As soon as she settled back on her knees her head whipped around to try and find the owner of the evil foot. Instead of finding the foot, which had disappeared back into the crowd, she saw Mochida smirking down at her in triumph. In just three hits he would win and Kyoko would be his.

Tsuna brought her arms for a bit of protection as she waited for the inevitable blows that would come. However, instead of the sharp pain from a wooden shinai she felt a dull pain in her forehead. She fell back with a thump against the floor as a dark quiet began to fill her. Only one thing pervaded the darkness. A regret.

What would happen to Kyoko now?

That one thought sent ripples through the darkness and a burning power followed. It spread through every inch of her body before she couldn't stand it anymore. She had to let it out.

On the outside the crowd had gone silent and even Mochida stilled in his strike as they stared at Tsuna. Her body began to tremble and Mochida took several hesitant steps back. She surged upwards onto her feet and everyone stared as an orange flame began to burn strongly on her forehead. Grabbing the sword at her feet she rushed towards Mochida who had gone still in.

"I will defeat you with my dying will." She said in a quiet, yet strong and deadly, voice. A shiver ran down Mochida's spine as he froze in place. Tsuna swung the shinai and struck him on his chest with enough force to send him flying across the ring and skidding to a stop at the feet of the audience.

The flame on her head faded and she blinked before staring at Mochida's prone form. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she swiftly looked down at her clothes before letting relief flood her system. Despite being shot and going into dying will state, which she surely did if Mochida had anything to say about it, her clothes weren't gone. Suddenly the way Leon looked that morning made sense. Tsuna looked up from where her gaze had drifted and looked back over to where Mochida lay. She was very aware of the stunned silence of the crowd as she walked over to Mochida and kneeled down next to him. After a quick once over she turned to the ref.

"He's knocked out." She said calmly to him and then tilted her head to the side, "Does this mean I win?" the ref was completely speechless and quickly jogged over to Mochida's side. After a bit he snapped out of his astonishment and lifted Tsuna's arm up, announcing her the winner.

"Sawada Tsunako has won this match by knock out! As her prize her conditions will be met!" After a bit of silence the crowd burst into applause. A surprised blush came up on Tsuna's face and she quickly retracted her hand from the ref's and tried to shrink into herself before she was glomped by an overly happy Kyoko.

"Thank you, Tsuna-chan." She said with a bright smile on her face. A hand came down to pat Tsuna's head and she looked up into the approving gaze of Kurokawa.

A huge grin lit up Tsuna's face as she finally basked in the praise before she remembered something important. She quickly excused herself and walked out of the gym, her bag back in her hands. She looked around trying to spot Reborn and almost started walking home to find him when something landed on her her head and she looked up into the smirking face of Reborn. She glared at him.

"Reborn! What was that in there!" She demanded. "I definitely got shot!" All Reborn did was give another smirk but before she could demand once again for an answer a pat on her back, that sent her keeling forward before she got her balance back, made her turn around to be greeted with the smiling face of Yamamoto.

"Good job in there, Tsuna! It was awesome how quickly you beat him." He said before heading off. Tsuna stood there in the silence that he left behind. _What the heck was that about? Yamamoto never did anything like that in the manga. Course, my clothing didn't come off after being hit by the dying will bullet either. Speaking of which..._

"Reborn! Answer my question." She said as she rid herself of all thoughts of the baseball player and refocused on Reborn. The hitman's smirk seemed to grow.

"Of course you were shot, Dame-Tsuna. It wasn't with just any bullet, though. I shot you with the Dying Will Bullet." Reborn said, his hand on his chin, as he tried to look scholarly. It had a surprisingly good effect despite the fact that he looked five years old. "It's a special bullet made by the Vongola that when shot at a person their dying will at that moment will be fulfilled. In a five minute span of course." Tsuna stared at him for a bit.

"Then doesn't that mean that I should be dead?" She asked as she walked out of the school's gate.

"Well, of course you died Dame-Tsuna. With the Dying Will Bullet you die and are then reborn so you can complete your dying will. You shed your old self and come back anew." Tsuna could feel the smugness coming off him in waves and it was really starting to annoy her but before she could do anything about it, not that she would, it stopped and Reborn looked down at her suspiciously. "In fact your supposed to shed your clothes until you're standing in your underwear. And now I have a question for you. Why did you freak out and look down at your clothes almost as soon as you exited out of the dying will state?" Tsuna shifted around uncomfortably for a bit before going with her safest bet. Don't answer the question with the truth that he wants to know and fill it in with a truth that will be just as acceptable.

"Uh, well, when I fell down everything was dark and then all of sudden there was a blinding orange flash and it felt like I was tearing through my skin. And it felt really real. Like creepily real. I just had to check." She shivered. That was not an experience that she would like to do again. Then she remembered something that could probably turn the conversation away from the dangerous stuff. "And what do you mean by being stripped down to my underwear! I can't believe you'd actually do that to me! And why didn't it happen?" That last question had been killing her for a while now.

"Do you really think that I'd let a poor girl run around practically naked?"He asked innocently. Tsuna just gave him a dead pan look. After all, he had done it to Kyoko and Haru. Why not her? Reborn was silent for a bit before continuing on. "Well, I couldn't let the Vongola's future mafia boss run around naked. It would reflect badly on the Vongola and might give future associates the wrong impression." Tsuna just stared at him in exasperation before she realized something.

"I don't want to be a mafia boss!" _I think._

* * *

><p>AN: I want to thank all those who have reviewed my story. It made me really happy! I would also like to give a special thanks to Torataro who gave me my first review ever. XD I'll be holding a poll for who Tsuna will be paired up with later when I have more of the suitors present in my story. Also HikariNoTenshi-San I'm sorry to say that I am not a big fan of underwear showing scenes but that doesn't mean I won't add one. It's so cliche, just like the going into the future thing, that it will have to be added. Just for someone who is more worthy then Mochida though. And technically if you think about it, even if I didn't write it down, she probably did flash a few people when she tripped.


	7. Chapter 7

"Dame-Tsuna, what are we doing at a library?" Reborn asked. They were supposed to be heading home after the fight, not to a dusty old library. She paused in the middle of pulling out a book and looked up at Reborn who was sitting in an empty area on the shelf.

"I noticed something in my fight with Mochida." She said as she finished taking the book out, looked at it, and then placed it back. As she continued sifting through the shelf Reborn gave her a look as if to silently say 'And that is?' "I noticed that I'm pathetically weak and it's about time I fix that. After all, my tactical retreat strategy won't always work." Reborn gave her a bland stare.

"You mean running away." It was not a question. She gimaced.

"Tactical. Retreat." She said back obstinately.

"You ran away. He had to chase after you. You tripped. You got caught. Sounds like running away to me." He smirked down at her. Tsuna slammed the book she had just grabbed back into the book shelf as she ground her teeth in anger.

"Just drop it." She said finally. There was silence for a bit before Reborn began talking again, much to Tsuna's annoyance.

"You still haven't explained to me how you plan to fix your problem at a library." He said as he watched Tsuna take out another book and look through it. This time she nodded in satisfaction and placed it with the few others she had chosen in her arms.

"Because the library has things like this." She said as she held up three books for Reborn to see. She had a big grin on her face as he read the titles.

"Everyday Strength Exercises, Basic Defense Techniques, and Parkour For Dummies? This is really all you came here for?" He asked, faintly annoyed. He could easily teach her all these things and yet she decided to rely on books instead of him. Also, not many people can learn something just by reading about it. They would not only have to be able to understand it but they would also have to be able to apply it in real life.

"Reborn, come on." She said as she patted her shoulder for him to sit on. Reborn gave a smirk before jumping on top of her head. She grumbled a bit at him purposely ignoring her invitation before continuing on to the checkout. As the walked home Reborn couldn't help but think that, if anything, it would be fun to watch her try.

* * *

><p>(Tsuna's house; Morning)<p>

The next morning Tsuna woke up early and, after changing in to some work out clothes, sat stretching in front of her house. The exercise book, which she had tucked inside her clothes, had said that a daily jog, in the morning or afternoon, was perfect to help her stamina. So there she was, at 5:30 AM, ready to do morning exercises before she came back at 7:00 to take a shower and get ready for school. As soon as she finished stretching she did as many push ups and sit ups as she could before she took off down the road, her route already predetermined the day before.

Ten minutes later and she was already tired and leaning against the wall, drinking water and catching her breath. It was actually kinda sad. When she was Kross she could go about thirty minutes before she had to stop from exhaustion. Of course, that was mostly because the last three schools that she had went to before chose running several laps around the school as punishment. Needless to say he had lots of experience with running. And getting in trouble. _ Especially _getting in trouble.

Tsuna shook her head and pushed off the wall, it was time to get back to her jog. Normally she wouldn't be doing anything like this without the proper backing of the school to force her into it, but that just shows how much she feels she needs to do this. After all, if she learns to defend herself early she might not get beat up as much... Maybe.

She was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard the pounding of footsteps against the ground and a familiar yell of 'Extreme.' Tsuna quickly began to look for a side street that she could hide in as a feeling of dread washed over her. Like she was about to get in over her head. But there were none for a while longer and it was to late. Ryohei was here.

"Ouuh!" He yelled as he slowed down his pace to keep up with hers. "To meet a fellow jogger here on this EXTREME morning is a surprise! I haven't seen you around, are you knew to the jogging scene?" He asked. Tsuna looked off to the side as she tried not to let Ryohei see her fully. He had been there to see her fight Mochida and she just _knew_ that he would try something. She mumbled a bit and shrugged her bangs over her eyes, wishing that she hadn't pulled her hair up for her work out. She began to sweat as Ryohei leaned in, eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. "Ah! You're Sawada Tsunako!The way you defeated Mochida was EXTREME! Join the boxing club!" he said excitedly. Tsuna stared at him. She knew it was going to happen, but, _still_...

"Um... Senpai, I'm a girl." Ryohei stared at her in obvious confusion. Apparently he couldn't understand the problem of a _girl_ joining an all _boy _boxing club. Tsuna sighed. "Uh, I'm kinda participating in something... outside of school." She said, being as vague as possible. Ryohei seemed really depressed after learning that, which for some reason made her feel guilty. "But, since I can't join your club, do you want to run with me in the mornings? And by the way, what's your name?" Not that she didn't already know. However, he did seem to cheer up.

"My name is is Sasagawa Ryohei, the EXTREME captain of the boxing club!" He yelled as he pumped his fists. "And I would be super excited to help you in your EXTREME training!" And with that he grabbed hold of her and sprinted off with his usual pace, dragging poor Tsuna along.

* * *

><p>(At school)<p>

Tsuna slumped against her desk and sighed. Her work out with Ryohei was exhausting and she had been relieved when it was ten minutes to seven and she was able to tell Ryohei that she had to go get ready for school. He was slightly disappointed but cheered up when she said that she would meet him at the same spot the next morning at 6:00 after her morning stretches and warm ups.

Tsuna stretched out as she lay on her desk and tried to waker herself up. She would probably get detention if she fell asleep in class. Someone approached her in the middle of her stretch and she looked up to see a boy, who was from the next class over.

"Sawada-chan, do you mind filling in for a regular in a boys volley ball game this afternoon?" He asked quietly. Tsuna was dumbfounded. Why would they want a girl to play on the _boy's_ volley ball team?

"I'm a girl." She stated, repeating the same line that she had told Ryohei earlier that morning. The boy blushed and fidgeted a bit.

"I know, but you were able to beat Mochida-Senpai and Yamamoto-kun suggested you as well." he said quickly.

"Um, do you mind if I get back to you on that? Like around lunch time?" She asked. She really didn't want to do it and she she hoped that someone would step up and take her spot by then. The boy gave a hesitant nod and, after several glances back at her, he walked out of the room.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. People had been staring and whispering about her as soon as she set foot on campus. Even now her classmates were talking about her. She pointedly ignored them and was glad when the bell rang and the teacher started class. Then a sudden thought came to her.

Since when had Yamamoto been in the volley ball team? He wasn't there in the manga, maybe he was there in the anime? She shrugged. It didn't really matter anyways.

* * *

><p>(At school; Lunch)<p>

As soon as she laid out her bento to eat for lunch the boy from before appeared, this time with two others.

"Will you help us?" He asked in a pleading voice. Whether they meant to or not they all began to give her puppy eyes. For some strange reason, even though they were all male and taller then her, she felt the puppy dog eyes winning her over. Her resolve crumbled and she gave them a resigned nod. How had their puppy dog eyes won? They were _men_! Big, bad, _volley ball_ playing men! She snorted. Okay, that might have been the reason. But, still...

"We're going to have to work on that Dame-Tsuna." He said as he popped out of the chalk board.

The chopsticks that she had just picked up dropped from Tsuna's hands. She stood up and was about to say something when she stopped and snapped her head around to look at the rest of the classroom. The others had cleared out to eat elsewhere already and Tsuna let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Reborn.

"Don't just pop out of nowhere randomly! And work on what?" She asked as she watched Reborn hop onto the desk in front of her own.

"If you're going to be a successful mafia boss then you need to stop giving into everyone who asks for help. You can't help everybody." He gave her a knowing look before smirking. "But at least you can try out your new parkour abilities. And I would have made you participate anyway." Tsuna gave him a dirty look.

She had surprised Reborn by reading all of her books that she had gotten but it hadn't been as smooth when she tried applying some of the parkour stuff that she had read. After her morning stretches yesterday she had tried to do a handstand and utterly failed. It had left her winded and a little more then wary to try it again. That's why she had decided to start running first and gain some strength by doing stuff like push ups and sit ups before doing it again.

"What does parkour have to do with volley ball." She muttered miserably. She was sure that he had enjoyed her first try at a hand stand if his amused smirk had anything to say about it. He ignored her complaining and had instead opted to steal things out of her lunch box. Tsuna went to go steal her food back but as soon as she got close Reborn pinched her hand. She yelped and brought it back to nurse the wound. She really hated Reborn. Even if he is cute.

* * *

><p>(School;after school)<p>

It was after school now and the volley ball game that she was to participate in would start any minute. However, that wasn't Tsuna's biggest concern at the moment. Her biggest concern was trying to figure out how to change in the oh-so-tiny girl's bathroom stall without killing herself. Tsuna twisted her P.E. Top around and accidentally bumped her elbow against the side of the stall. She cussed under her breath in English and Spanish, she didn't know much Spanish but she sure knew all their cuss words, as the familiar tingle of hitting her funny bone raced through her arm.

Finally done, she left the bathroom and headed towards the gym. Tsuna purposely sought out the gym's side door so she wouldn't be caught up in the crowd. She didn't like all the attention and going through the side door would help a bit. No one noticed her come through the door and she sneaked over to the team, who were looking worried.

"I wonder where she is. The game is going to start soon." The boy who had asked her to come said. They shifted around nervously and glanced towards the entrance frequently.

"Don't worry guys, Tsuna will definitely come!" Yamamoto said with a bright grin. Tsuna gave a wry smile. At least someone believed in her. She sneaked up to them and tapped Yamamoto on the shoulder. As soon as he saw her his bright smile doubled and Tsuna could literally feel herself being blinded. "See? She's here just in time!" He said jovially.

The others brightened up too but when the referee said it was time for the teams to get to their spots it faded into nervous twitches. Apparently it was very important that the win this game. '_Well then,'_ Tsuna thought, ''_I'll just have to try my best. Even if I'm not to sure what the rules are...'_

Her team started out with the ball and as soon as it was served she had a strange urge to move a few feet to the right of where she was placed. She shrugged and followed her instincts. She got there just in time for the ball to come straight at her. She bumped the ball forward and one of her teammates set it so Yamamoto could spike it over the net for the first point of the game.

Tsuna stared in slight disbelief at what had just happened. Had that _really_ just happened. Why had she known where the ball had gone before it was even heading there? As soon as the opposite team had bumped it she had known where to go, which was weird. Well, you couldn't really know until it was done again. Feeling the same urge she had felt earlier she moved to the place her instincts told her to go and sure enough the ball came straight at her. Yet another point went to them and it was confirmed.

The rest of the game went pretty much just like that where Tsuna would run off to some part of the court, the ball would magically come straight to her, she would bump it, another player would set, and Yamamoto would spike. Every now and then they would lose a point when Tsuna in her clumsiness bumped the ball of to the side where no one could get it or would trip and fall as she ran.

In the end they won the first game, lost the second, and won the last. Each game was barely won by the minimum two points, mostly do to the fact that her arms really hurt from receiving the hard spikes from the other team over and over again on her soft, un-callosed arms.

As soon as it was announced that they had won the crowd converged on them to celebrate. Apparently they had played, and won, against the rival school of her school. During the commotion Tsuna was able to sneak out of the side door again and headed towards the dreaded bathroom stalls again to get changed out of her sweaty uniform. A sudden thought hit her when she walked out of the bathroom later and she took a quick glance at her surroundings. Wasn't Gokudera supposed to have been watching her during the game?

She turned to the side so she could look more carefully and had to stifle a gasp as a tinge of dull pain went through the shoulder that she had landed particularly hard on during the game. She even had a bruise on her face when she bumped the ball wrong and it hit her directly in the face. She sighed and walked home as she tenderly touched at the many bruises that littered her skin. She knew she was going to hate herself tomorrow when not only this but what she had done that morning with Ryohei would catch up with her.

While Tsuna was worrying about the pain that she would feel in the morning Reborn was contemplating his student. He was wondering about the fact that she had seemed to know exactly where the ball would go. After a bit of thought he confirmed his suspicions. It seemed that her hyper intuition was really kicking in.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm really starting to wonder about how sane my decision was." Tsuna mumbled to herself as she trudged to school. It had been four days since she began doing morning work outs with Ryohei and she was beginning to regret her decision. Her body was just one big sore spot and every time she moved another muscle would protest the movement. She was running a little late that morning but she didn't really care at this point. If Hibari was out front then she would just hop the gate.

As she turned the corner her eyes zeroed in on the gate as if she really expected him to be there but while her eyes did find someone it was not the person that she was expecting. In fact, she had almost entirely forgotten about him. She almost slapped herself for forgetting the fact that Gokudera would be stalking her after the volley ball game and she paused where she was as she waited for him to go through the gate before she continued on. It wouldn't be good if he confronted her in the morning when she was tired out from her work out.

She made it into the classroom right before the teacher did and sighed in relief that she wouldn't get detention. She didn't need _that_ on her plate as well. She hadn't run into Gokudera even once since she entered school grounds, which was nice, but she couldn't help but wonder why since he did go in before her. He probably had to go to the office or something. Tsuna sighed again as she stared longingly at her desk top. Oh, how she just wanted to lay her head down and go to sleep.

"Class, we have a new student in our class starting today. His name is Gokudera Hayato and he's from Italy." The teacher said as she brought in the new comer. Tsuna looked up with a bit of trepidation and her gaze automatically locked with Gokudera's burning glare.

'_Yep, that's Gokudera._' She couldn't help but think in exasperation as he began stomping over to her, ignoring the teacher's yells. She scooted back just in time and the kick, which should've made the desk hit Tsuna, sent her desk toppling to the floor. _'That... was kinda freaky.'_ Tsuna thought as she stared up at Gokudera uneasily before he 'tch'd ' and headed towards the back of the class where his desk was.

Now that he wasn't hanging over her Tsuna finally picked up her desk and the class continued on, albeit awkwardly. The students didn't really pay attention to the lesson since they were more interested in the transfer student, even if he was violent. Tsuna did her best to ignore this, which was pretty hard since it was _everywhere_, but half way through class she had a sudden thought. A troubled yet happy laugh tumbled out of her lips and it took all she had not to turn around and look at Gokudera, who was still glaring a hole in her head. By the end of the day she would have her own personal man-bitch.

* * *

><p>(Lunch Time)<p>

Tsuna grumbled to herself as she wandered around the campus. It was lunch and she just wanted to eat her lunch peacefully in the classroom but Reborn had forced her out. And now she was wandering aimlessly around the school to find a good place to eat while avoiding crowds of people. After all, who knows when Hibari would pop up?

Her stomach grumbled as she turned the next corner and it distracted her just enough for her to walk right into the person in front of her. She looked up, ready to apologize, and blanched when she came face to face with three thugs. _'Oh, shit...'_

"Something wrong with your head, bitch? You should be on the ground apologizing and begging for mercy!" The thug that she had walked into yelled as he loomed over her, a leer on his face. The other two followed his actions and grunted in approval of what he said

Tsuna stuttered out some quick, incoherent words that were supposedly an apology before running away as fast as she could. It was only when she had turned through a door into the outside courtyard that she couldn't help but notice that this seemed awfully familiar to what happened to Tsuna before he got confronted by Gokudera. And then she saw Gokudera. And proceeded to cuss in several different languages as he began to approach her.

"The Vongola doesn't need a weak little girl to be their leader. I would do much better as the 10th generation boss!" Gokudera said as he advanced towards Tsuna. He whipped out two sticks of dynamite and quickly lit them before throwing them over to where Tsuna was before nonchalantly saying. "Die." Tsuna watched in fear as the bombs arched through the air towards her but then as soon as she entered their blast radius bullets came out of nowhere and cut the wicks. Tsuna stared at the dead sticks of dynamite before snapping her head up to find Reborn sitting on a window sill.

"Reborn! You have something to do with this, don't you!" Tsuna accused him as she rudely pointed a finger at him. "Are you trying to kill me or something!" Reborn just smirked down at her before turning to Gokudera.

"You sure took your time, Gokudera Hayato." Reborn said. "And of course I had something to do with this. He's actually well known in the Mafia world and is known as 'Smokin' Bomb Hayato.' He's come to assess you, so fight well or die, Dame-Tsuna. Oh, and the answer to your last question is 'maybe'." Tsuna gaped at Reborn but was soon brought back to Gokudera when she heard the sizzle of a newly lit bomb.

The multi-lingual cussing that had been going on in her head for a while now finally burst forth from her mouth and she ducked just in time for the bomb to whiz past her head and explode behind her. Tsuna was considerably paler as a wave of bombs sailed towards her and, thinking fast, she began trying to stomp out the wicks of the bombs into the dirt. However, it quite obviously failed and soon she was surrounded by the bombs that littered the ground.

In an almost perfect mimic of the first time it happened a dull pain exploded in her fore head and everything turned dark as she fell to the ground, unable to even feel when she hit the ground. And, again, she had only one regret.

_Damn, I really wanted a man-bitch._

"I shall stop him with my dying will." She said with a deadly calm as she rushed forward and began to grind them into the ground with her foot or hand as they came. After she stomped out the first wave she had finally had it and rushed towards Gokudera. He was considerably surprised as Tsuna barreled into him and they both came crashing down into the dirt.

Tsuna groaned as her dying will dispersed and leaned forward to rest her pounding head against the warmth beneath her. She probably would have stayed in that position for a while if the thing she was resting her head against didn't shift beneath her and groan in pain. She sat up and looked down at Gokudera, who was holding his hand over his eyes, and blushed. She did _not _mean to straddle him. Though it was a nice perk considering the pain that she had to go through for it to happen.

Tsuna was brought out of this little revelation when she heard the sound of burning wicks around her. Without thinking Tsuna launched off Gokudera and began smothering the wicks with her hands. A quick twist of her wrist when she pushed it into the dirt and it went out with out to much pain. She only had two more wicks to put out as she left the one she had just finished smothering.

Unfortunately, there was still a single, hot spark left within the wick and as soon as she finished putting out the last two it was burning just as brightly as before. A look of horror passed over Tsuna's face as she looked at how short the wick had gotten. She quickly began to smother the obstinate little wick that just wouldn't be put out. Tsuna clenched her teeth as it burned the sensitive flesh of her palms.

_'I...really hate pain.'_ She thought as the wick finally died out. She sighed in relief and took her throbbing hands off the ground and held them up gingerly so she could look at the damage. She winced.

A sudden movement behind her made her twist around in panic. She had completely forgotten about Gokudera. She had been expecting him to be glaring at her with newly lit bombs so when so she was taken off guard when he was bowing to her, his face down in the dirt. She flinched in surprise from where she sat when he brought his head back up, a huge smile on his face.

"Principessa! You are truly the only person fit to be the 10th generation Vongola boss! I'm extremely sorry for insulting you earlier, I never wanted to be the tenth!" He said as he stayed loyally in his bowed position. A weak, nerve-filled chuckle escaped Tsuna's lips. She had known it would happen but to see the 180 degree transformation in person was really different. And the bowing thing was weird. _Really_ weird.

"Ah, um. Gokudera-kun, you don't have to bow your head like that. I mean, look at your forehead, it's covered in dirt." His eyes darted up and a light blush tinted his cheeks as he quickly wiped off the dirt. "Lunch time is almost over, how about we head back to class now, ok?" He nodded his head quickly.

Everything seemed to be going well until she pushed her hands down on the ground to help her stand up. She went up half way before falling back down as the burns on her hands flared. A small 'Itai' leaked out as she cupped her hands protectively. Gokudera quickly snatched her hands up to survey the damage. Her finger tips were only slightly red but the palms of her hands were red and had blackened parts here and there and was sensitive to touch.

"Wow. It's going to be hard making lunch with these burns. I hope Kaa-san doesn't see them." She said thoughtfully, not noticing the further distress that she was putting on Gokudera. He stood up quickly, dragging Tsuna with him, and began heading towards the school building.

"I'm extremely sorry, Principessa! I will take any form of punishment later but first we have to get you to the nurse's office before the burns set in." His voice was tight and shoulders stiff as he directed her to the nurse's office and Tsuna could almost hear what was probably going around inside his head. Probably something along the lines of 'I barely just met her and I've already done something stupid to get her hurt.'

A sense of guilt wiggled into Tsuna's mind and she had to grumble at the cuteness of her new man-bitch. Voices from the connecting hallway brought her back and she paled as the thugs that she had run into earlier walking straight at them. Gokudera felt her stiffen a bit and stopped to see what was bothering her and noticed the thugs for the first time. He sent them a burning glare that stopped them in their tracks. However, it didn't stop their mouths. Oh, those poor, poor suckers.

"Hey man, isn't that the bitch that bumped into you?" Sucker number one said as he pointed over to you.

"You're right. It's the bitch with no manners." Sucker number two said as he scrutinized her from afar.

"So, have you come to kneel before me and apologize? It's about time." Sucker number three, the one Tsuna bumped into, sneered. " And what's with that look you silver haired freak. Tch, kohai's have no manners anymore." And their fate was sealed.

After a quick bombing session in the hallway, courtesy of Gokudera, Tsuna found herself seated on a sterile, white bed in the nurse's office as she waited for Gokudera's tender ministrations of burn ointment to her hands. She watched in amusement as he grumbled about lazy nurse's as he sifted through the supply closet. She could just tell him where the burn medicine was since she was technically the nurse's assistant but it was funner to watch him look for it himself.

Finally he let out an exclamation of triumph and pulled out a box labeled 'Burn Supplies' and walked over to where Tsuna sat. He threw open the kit and began to toss things to the side much like he did with the supplies in the supply closet. After a bit he picked out some bandages and the correct salve for her level of burns and brought them over.

"This will only take a minute, Principessa. Then we can head back to class." He said determinedly.

He was obviously feeling guilty for giving her the burns and that in turn made Tsuna feel guilty for making him worry. Which is just a never ending crappy cycle of guilt. The cool salve felt nice against her skin and Gokudera was soon skillfully wrapping her hand up in bandages. She marveled at how well he had wrapped them, he obviously had lots of experience with taking care of wounds, and the bandages didn't constrict her movement at all. She flexed her hands a bit to test them before smiling at Gokudera.

"Thank you, Gokudera-kun. I can barely feel them there at all!" She said boisterously and she was given a small, happy smile for her efforts. She could almost see the puppy ears flopping on top of his head. Then a sudden idea struck her and she could barely hold in a fan girl giggle as she stood up and gave him a hug. He flushed immediately.

"P-Principessa! W-what are you - ! Uhm..." He stuttered out, unused to such situations. He was stiff, with his hands half circling around her but not actually touching her. She pulled back, though her hands still clung onto his shirt, and gave him a bright, innocent smile, which belied the scheming fan girl underneath.

"I thought of it just now, but, technically, this makes you my first real friend." She beamed up at him. _'Yosh! I'm doing well. I've already straddled (accidentally) and hugged him. I feel so accomplished!'_ Were her real thoughts. And she didn't count Kyoko in her earlier statement cause even though they were kinda friends they didn't hang out. She watched in amusement as he flailed around for a bit before letting go and picking up her bag. "We should probably head back to class now. We might still be able to make it for the end of the lesson." She slid open the door and pause at the sight of a smiling Yamamoto on the other side. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. Why was he here?

"Hey, Tsuna. Is the nurse here?" He asked as he looked around the room. "I've been trying to find her all lunch." She stepped aside to let him in before closing the door with a sigh. Damn her for getting so many injuries and hiding out in here all those times that she was forced to become the assistant!

"She's currently on vacation but since I'm her assistant I can help you." When the nurse had left for her vacation she was supposed to take charge but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. She was supposed to be in here every lunch but was simply to lazy to do it. "Now, what's wrong?" Yamamoto's eyes slid over uneasily to Gokudera, who was glaring daggers at him, before he showed her his right arm.

"My joints have been hurting a lot lately, even to the point where it's sometimes hard to use a pencil." He said with a sheepish smile. She nodded and told him to sit on the bed while she grabbed the nurse's wheely chair. She led him through several exercises while checking the joints in his shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers. She frowned. This was obviously a lead up to him breaking his arm.

"All I can say is that you're straining your ligaments. You're probably over practicing or something like that." She eyed him carefully as his usual smile dropped a fraction of a degree. "Everyone's body needs rest Yamamoto-kun, even yours. If you keep straining them there is a good chance that you'll fracture something and I'm sure that that's the last thing you want to happen." With that said she went to the supply cabinet and rummaged through it a bit before pulling out HotCold strips. She set it on the bed next to him before taking his arm and slipping of his sports arm band and placing it to the side. "This stuff should help the ache."

She wrapped one of the strips tightly around the wrist before moving on to the elbow. After she was done with that she began to wrap his fingers, making sure that she did it carefully and lightly so he would still be able to use the hand. She couldn't help but smile as she leant back and examined her work. She had done it wonderfully. Not as good as Gokudera, but still good. She was about to let him go when she remembered the last thing that she would have to wrap.

"Um... Yamamoto-kun, you need to take off your shirt so I can put a strip on your shoulder." Despite her slight embarrassment at having to ask him that all he did was blink once and shrug off his shirt before throwing it to the side. She worked quickly and efficiently to wrap Yamamoto's shoulder, despite the blush, and had him done and putting his shirt back on a few moments later.

"Thanks, Tsuna! I owe you one." He said as he rolled his shoulder to test out the bandages. "Wanna walk back to class together?" This last sentence finally set off Gokudera, who had been quietly waiting (watching her [intently]) and thinking vengeful thoughts in his anger (jealousy) for him delaying (getting attention from) the 10th.

"Go away, you baseball freak! You don't deserve to be in Principessa's presence!" He yelled out stepping in front of Tsuna, as if to protect her. He reached for his dynamite, but before he got to it Tsuna grabbed onto hos sleeve and gave a small tug to make him stop.

"Calm down, Gokudera-kun." She mumbled to him before looking over at Yamamoto. "You can go on ahead, Yamamoto-kun. We'll head back once we clean up the mess in here." She said with a small smile. He looked around the room and gave her a bit of an apologetic grimace. Tsuna paused. _Why was he grimacing like that? It's not that big of a mess. Just the stuff that I took out for Yamamoto's joints. Right?_

"Haha, well, good luck then." Tsuna had a really bad feeling now. She turned around almost hesitantly and froze as she finally saw the disaster area around her. The room was trashed, with medical supplies everywhere and her shoulders dropped at the thought of how much work she would have to do to clean it up. Why, oh, why, did she she let Gokudera rifle through the place by himself when he was looking for the burn stuff? Oh, right. Cause it was amusing. Not really all that worth it anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: I'm sorry for the long update. My grandparents were having their 50th anniversary celebration for their marriage and wanted to go to their homeland, Ecuador, and decided to drag the whole family along. I tried to get it out right before I went but when i was on the last page my mom came in my room and forced me to 'get off my lazy ass' and last minute cleaning instead of 'wasting my time on my computer'(typing up the chapter. So, yeah.

Also, my friend requested a story from me and it's a Yaoi. Unfortunately, i have no experience at all in writing sex scenes. If any of you guys would be able to help me out by leaving some tips in reviews or sending me a message I would love it. It's a Yu Yu Hakusho fic with hiei/kurama as the pairing C:

* * *

><p>Tsuna sped through the halls as she headed for her last class of the day. They had taken the whole 5th period to clean up the nurse's office but they still weren't completely done. She would probably still be in there if it wasn't for Gokudera saying that she had already done enough and that she could go ahead to class. She straightened out her clothes as she came to a rest at the front of her 6th period class and took a quick, steadying breath as she prepared to head in. She really hated this teacher.<p>

"Sorry, Nezu-sensei. I was held up at the nurse's office." She said, holding up her bandaged hands. He looked over at her with obvious contempt before letting a smirk tug onto his face.

"Well, Sawada. It seems you're just in time to get your test back." He said, holding up her paper in just a way that the score was seen by the whole class.

A chorus of 'so she's the one who dropped our class average', 'Wow, a 26', and 'Dame-Tsuna's done it again' rang throughout the class. Tsuna was stunned. She had made sure that all the tests she had been taking recently averaged around the high seventies low eighties but she _never_ would have gotten a 26.

"It's people like you who are a detriment to society. I bet you even got those injuries in a fight." He shook his back in forth as if he was disappointed in her when, really, he probably didn't give a shit. "Really, Dame-Tsuna, if you're not going to try you should at least leave so that everyone else won't be pulled down by your stupidity." Tsuna flinched and stiffened where she stood. Nezu had pretty much condoned all the crap that the others students did to her, and, although the class had gone silent, she could tell that several people agreed with his statement.

"Principessa? What are you doing standing in the doorway?" Gokudera questioned as he looked down at her in concern. He had just arrived but he could already see by how she clenched her fists and the way that she bit her lip that something had happened, something that upset her. He was about to demand some answers from the suspiciously silent class when he was interrupted by Nezu.

"Ah, so the delinquent finally decides to come to class, eh?" He patronized him. "Really, it's your first day and you're already skipping? And you seem to be good friends with Dame-Tsuna. Heh. How fitting. Scum deserves scum." The last comment obviously enraged Gokudera and he was about to retaliate and defend his boss's honor when Tsuna grabbed his arm and shook her head with a pensive smile.

"Let's just go to our seats, alright, Gokudera-kun?" He seemed to be having a small inner battle but after a while he gave out a huff and after a stiff nod he walked to his desk. Tsuna followed suit not long after with her test in hand.

Despite the passive manner in which she had handled the situation she inwardly seethed. She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this guy, this _teacher_, had actually done that to her. Well, he was made up in a manga so she could kind of get that its not supposed to be real and was supposed to be unfair, but still.

With an inward huff of annoyance she forced herself to look up and pay attention to Nezu's lesson plan for the day. Tsuna perked up when she noted that he was going over the test that they had just gotten back. And so, with some determination, she set about correcting her test. But, as he went over more and more questions, the aura around Tsuna became darker and darker.

Soon enough the school bell rang and she was still staring darkly at her paper. Sensing that something was wrong with his boss, Gokudera came forward quietly and stopped at her shoulder. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion as he watched his boss silently and darkly glare at the test before her. Was this the reason she was upset? But, didn't she fail all that time? He was startled out of his thoughts when a soft, restrained voice floated over to his ears.

"Gokudera-kun, you're pretty smart, right?" She asked, turning just enough to show him the paper, her hair still covering her eyes. He nodded. "Can you check this over for me?" He took the test from her oddly tight grip and began checking over the equations and soon enough his eyebrows began to rise in comprehension. And then, just as fast as they went up, they came down.

"82." He ground out, his glare locking onto Nezu who was packing up at the front of the room. "You should have gotten an 82."

That was all Tsuna needed to know and she quickly stood up, all prior restraint gone. She snatched the paper up and stormed to the front of the room. Nezu glanced up at the sudden movement and a look of disdain flashed across his face before returning to a more professional look. She held her paper up to his face and glared.

"Sensei, why did you give me 26 when I should have gotten and 82!" She demanded, trying to keep her voice in control. All he did was adjust his glasses with a frown.

"You should be happy to get a 26. After all, you obviously cheated." The paper nearly slipped out of her hands as she stared at him, her mouth agape. "You didn't use any of the methods that I taught, you used all the shorter versions of them that I made sure not to teach you guys, short cuts are horrible for the correct development of a child. And it couldn't have been a cram school because I checked in the office and none are listed." Well, she couldn't really deny that. She had only paid enough attention to his lessons to remind herself of what she had been taught before. She couldn't help it if she remembered the shortcuts better then the long versions of solving the problems.

"I have a home tutor helping me." She protested. "Besides, I got it right so you have no right to fail me!" He shot her a contemptuous glance before pushing the hand holding her paper away.

"So, that's why you've been doing so well lately?" He looked amused now and a small chuckle escaped his lips. "You were so pathetic that you had to get a _home tutor_? You truly live up to the name Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna was thoroughly taken aback by Nezu's attitude and could only stare at him in silence. However, that didn't apply to the bomber standing next to her. He had Nezu by the collar in seconds and was shaking him angrily.

"You bastard!" He yelled. "How dare you insult Principessa like that!" Tsuna paled as she watched Gokudera attack their teacher. She had hoped and prayed that she wouldn't have to deal with that stupid time capsule thing. She bit back an inward sob as she looked at Gokudera man handling their teacher, there was no longer a way to avoid it.

"Gokudera-kun, stop!" She called out, because no matter how satisfactory it was to see Nezu dangling it was still a bad idea to hurt a teacher. As soon as he heard her Gokudera dropped Nezu on his butt. Once on the floor Nezu scrambled as fast as he could out the door.

Tsuna watched with a bit of amusement as he left, now in a better mood after seeing how pathetic Nezu was. '_It shouldn't be too bad.'_ she thought with a bright smile. _'After all, the sooner we find his bad test grades the sooner we can get rid of him'_

* * *

><p>The next day went on as most other days had. Waking up early for parkour exercises, jogging with Ryohei, a lonesome walk to school, an embarrassing greeting form Gokudera... Oh, wait, that's new. Sure enough Gokudera was there with a huge grin on his face and getting stares from his classmates for greeting 'Dame-Tsuna' so cheerily and politely. Tsuna decided to ignore them.<p>

"Good morning, Gokudera-kun." She greeted back amiably as she walked with him to class. It was such a novel experience to have friends, especially such enthusiastic ones. Tsuna sat down in her chair just as the bell rang but even though the teacher had come in there was still a buzz of conversation going on around her. After a bit of confusion Tsuna finally caught a piece of the conversation going on next to her.

"...definitely some sweets. Or we could make him lunch." Said one of the girls in her class. The other girl nodded in agreement before taking a sideways glance at Yamamoto.

"We should add a get well card, too." She said before bringing her voice down more. "I still can't believe he broke his arm. And right before a big game, too. The whole team was counting on him..."

Tsuna stopped listening at this point and turned to look at Yamamoto. Sure enough, he was sitting there, a huge cast on his arm, and a strain on his usual smile.

'_No wonder,'_ Tsuna thought heatedly. _'I wouldn't be too happy if people were gossiping about me like that!( though it happens all the time to me anyways)And pretty much right in front of his face, too!'_

Tsuna seethed in her desk as their teacher went on in his lesson. People could be so insensitive! Couldn't they see that he was sad enough!

"Sawada, Gokudera. You're being called to the office." Her teacher's voice said, making Tsuna look up at her. So, Nezu finally made his move. She gave her teacher a nod before getting up and walking out the door, Gokudera not far behind her.

* * *

><p>Tsuna flinched again as more spittle flew out of Nezu's mouth. They were called to the Principal's office because Nezu had charged them for assault on a teacher and was asking for them to be expelled. Tsuna tried to explain how Gokudera had only retaliated because Nezu had unfairly changed the score on her test but that only made him madder and he began to yell, effectively bombarding her face with spittle as mentioned at the beginning.<p>

"First of all," She interjected as she wiped it off her face. "ew. Second of all: are you really allowed to expel us? You can only really expel us if you have actual evidence of our assault and contacted our parents or guardians before expelling us. All the evidence you have is your word," She glance at his 'injured' hand. "and a sloppily wrapped hand. You claim it's sprained but unless you actually have a doctor's note you can't use that as evidence."

Nezu froze and began to sputter incoherently as he tried to drown Tsuna out. However, the principal wanted to hear and shushed him with a hand.

"Now, I'm not denying the Gokudera attacked him," Tsuna continued. "But it was due to Nezu provoking him more than anything. Besides, I stopped him soon after he started so he shouldn't be injured. Especially since Gokudera-kun didn't even touch his hand." Tsuna finished and there was a moment of silence where Nezu look so mad that he couldn't form words.

"Very well, I believe you two deserve a chance." All the pent up blood drained from Nezu's face as he began to protest but the principal continued on as if he hadn't heard him. "I'll give you a task, something to complete by the end of the day, and if you don't you'll be suspended for...Oh, let's see, one or two weeks?" He nodded to himself in agreement.

Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. The whole situation was going over way better the she had expected it to, and the man seemed nice enough, so the task that they would be assigned probably wouldn't be _too_ hard. But then he turned to Nezu.

"Well, Nezu-sensei?" He asked. "They are your students. It only seems fitting that you would be the person to choose the task." Tsuna paled as a contemplating look appeared on Nezu's face and a sly grin slipped out before he quickly concealed it.

"I know just the thing." He said happily. "You were talking about how you couldn't find the time capsule from 15 years ago, right? Well, why don't we have _ them_ find it?" The principal seemed to like this idea and gave a nod of approval. As soon as Nezu saw the confirmation he turned to the kids. "You have till the end of the day. You may go."

As soon as Tsuna stepped out into the hallways she allowed her fists to clench. Nezu was so infuriating! It was his fault in the first place that all this had happened and then he feels the need to be a whiny little bitch and give them an impossible task. Well, she'd show him! And with that thought in her mind she began striding down the hallway. If she wanted things to turn out in her favor and get the asshole sacked she would need some proof that it actually wasn't there.

"P-principessa! Where are you going?" Gokudera called as he hastily followed after her.

"To the school library." Was her determined answer.

* * *

><p>"Aha, I found it." Tsuna said as she placed a bound book onto one of the many tables in the library. "I knew they would keep a record of them somewhere."<p>

"What did you find, Principessa?" He asked her as he sat down next to her at the table. She pushed the book over to him and he looked down at the title: Namimori Middle Time Capsules. He looked up in amazement at Tsuna. "With this we might get an idea of where it was buried! You're so smart Principessa!"

Tsuna gave him an uneasy chuckle. She doubted that she would ever get used to the glowing praise that she saw in his eyes every day or how he sprouted the most embarrassing things without batting an eye. She went back to the book to escape his gaze and smile and found just what she was looking for. Just as she had hoped the book was filled with pictures of all the different Namimori time capsuled and where they were buried, they even had a title saying what year they were and when they were supposed to be dug up.

And sure enough there was no mention of the one buried 15 years ago. An exclamation of anger beside her told her that Gokudera had come to the conclusion that she wanted him to come to. If they were just looking randomly for a time capsule that didn't exist then it would take forever, especially since she didn't want to be shot with the dying will bullet. Then she can say that she felt the urge to look anyways and they can go to the place that she narrowed down where she thought it would be from the pictures that she saw from the chapter she read last night.

"Why that little-" Was all that got out before before Tsuna clamped her hand over his mouth. She looked pointedly at the librarian, who was glaring right at them, and Gokudera gave a sheepish nod. Tsuna released him and he was able to hold onto his anger just enough for them to exit the room. "Principessa! We can't let him get away with this!" Tsuna sighed and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. Time to bring up some acting skills. Well, not really, but, whatever.

"Hold on Gokudera-kun, I think we should play along with this." Gokudera looked bewildered by her statement but she just gave him a knowing smile. "I have a feeling that we'll find something more important then a time capsule."

* * *

><p>The sun was a good deal into the western hemisphere when Tsuna and Gokudera began walking back to the principal's office, a large egg shaped capsule in Tsuna's hands. There was an almost weary drag in Tsuna's steps as she was walking and it seemed that finding the stupid thing was far harder then she thought if the twitch in her right eye had anything to say about it. She was a little depressed about the state that she was in at the moment because she certainly did not like the dirt and scorch marks form Gokudera's bombs that littered her clothes and made her feel filthy. Maybe she should have just stuck to the script...<p>

"Principessa, are you sure we shouldn't open it up?" Gokudera asked, interrupting Tsuna's thoughts. "Shouldn't we make sure what's inside? For all we know it won't help us at all." Tsuna chuckled.

"Oh, it'll definitely help us." She said happily. "I can tell that at least. Whatever's in here is important, just not sure why yet." There. Hopefully that will make Reborn think that she was working off of the Vongola Hyper Intuition and not think her actions suspicious.

"Of course, Principessa! I'm sure you're right." And Tsuna swore she saw stars in his eyes. "Allow me to hold it for you. There's no need for you to do such menial work."

"E-eh?" Tsuna questioned hesitantly. "It's fine Gokudera-kun, I can handle it. We're almost at the principal's office anyways." She pointed over at the door down the hall.

"I insist, Principessa! It would be rude of me not to carry it for you and I wouldn't be doing my job right. It's disgraceful that I haven't been able to help you at all since I arrived." He said with determination. Tsuna let out a hesitant chuckle as she looked at Gokudera and then at the door right in front of them.

"W-well, we're already here so..." Tsuna wasn't able to finish her sentence as Gokudera suddenly collapsed to the ground, a defeated look on his face. She paused guiltily in front of the door as she wondered what to do about her soon-to-be right hand man's sudden mental collapse. Just as she was about to reach out to him with her hand he looked up at her with the cutest kicked puppy face she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry Principessa! I failed you!" He said in anguish as he shook his head back and forth. "I was unable to help you in anyway. I..I.." He choked out. "I deserve to be punished!" Tsuna was flustered now. Had this ever happened to Male Tsuna?

"Oh, come on, you've helped me a bunch just today, right? I mean, you helped me dig up this capsule, checked my paper, and... and you wrapped my hands.." _Crap, wrong thing to say._ By reminding him about wrapping her hands she also reminded him about how _he _ was the one that had initially hurt her, thus sending him into a worse depression then before. Snatching hold of the first idea that entered her mind she began talking in hope that it would make him stop sending her those kicked puppy eyes. "Um, uh, if you really want to help me out and, uh, do your duty then how about you walk me to school in the mornings or something. You know, to make me... safer?"

"Of course, Principessa!" He he said happily, recovering in a split second. It was actually kind of unnerving to watch. "I would be honored to take you to school in the morning!" _ Oh God, the stars are back._

"R-right. Well, l-let's head on in."

And so they did. The principal was sitting in his chair, an anxious air about him, as he talked to a beaming Nezu. The anxiousness dissipated when he turned to look at them and a relieved smile replaced it. However, it didn't last long once his eyes landed on the capsule in Tsuna's arms.

"I'm sorry," He said as they stood in front of him. "I don't know what it is that you found but it certainly isn't any time capsule that we ever buried." He gave them a regretful smile.

"E-eh?" Tsuna stuttered. "A-are you sure? I mean, when we went to go look it up in the library we couldn't find a picture of it with the rest of them." The principal had a bewildered expression now.

"No picture... but we always... never once have we not..." He mumbled to himself until he seemed to hit a realization and turned his head sharply to look at Nezu, who had begun to sweat. "I thought there might have been an ulterior motive to you suggesting that task. You were trying to take advantage of my forgetfulness to suspend these two unfairly." he pierced Nezu with a glare before turning back to Gokudera and Tsuna. "I believe you guys no longer have to stay. Go on and head home and rest, you deserve it. You can leave the capsule here."

Tsuna gave a happy nod and walked over to deliver the capsule. However, when she was almost there she did something that she hadn't done in a long time. She tripped. The capsule flew out of her hands and bounced off the corner of the principal's desk and into the air. The capsule split open and the papers spilled out into the room.

Nezu lunged for the papers, but it was to late. The principal had several of them in his hand and was soon glaring steadily at Nezu. Tsuna saw her cue to leave when the principal stood up angrily and she grabbed Gokudera and quickly left the room. Gokudera protested leaving as he obviously wanted to pay Nezu back for what he had done but Tsuna didn't let him.

"It's getting late, Gokudera-kun, and I'm pretty sure that we're both tired from all that digging." She said placatingly as she patted him on the arm. "Let's just let the principal do his job." Tsuna couldn't help but give a wry smile as she thought back to the imposing figure that the principal made.

Well, he lasted this long with Hibari for a reason.


	10. Chapter 10

Yamamoto sighed in relief and let his legs dangle from the roof top as the last of the stragglers came through the gates and the beginning-of-class bell rung. His head hit the back of the roof fence with a clang as he relaxed against the metal fence, his normal smile gone as he gazed off into the horizon. It seemed that it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his bright smile, especially after the incident. He had felt, for a long time, that he had never actually _connected_ with his peers. They were friends, yes, but in the loosest of terms.

He had noticed throughout the years that all his classmates had a small selection of really close friends, the ones that they did everything with, and the ones that they hung out with when they're main friends weren't around. These friends usually didn't get very close with each other and rarely, if ever, meet up after school to hang out. Yamamoto found that he had many of those.

Of course, he hadn't really figured all of this out until, well, now. That's why he was up here: to think. He didn't know why but that added edge of danger, the fact that he could take one step and die, seemed to make his thoughts so much clearer. It made his usual everyday thoughts seem as though they were dragging through mud just to come out of his mouth. But, back to his original purpose, he was here to think. And think he did.

Not only had he figured out that he had no real friends but there really wasn't anyone that he felt he'd really be able to be friends with in his class. Well, there was one: Sawada Tsuna. She was... different somehow. There was just a feeling around her that seemed to separate her from the crowd, and while most made it out to be that she was just 'Dame-Tsuna', he knew better.

It was a comforting presence and he felt that he'd be able to be himself when he's around her, like how a friend would be. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Yeah, Tsuna would make a good friend. But then the smile fell and he shook his head back and forth to get rid of he hopeful thoughts. Tsuna was mad at him too for breaking his arm. Well, not mad at him like the others who are only thinking about the game that he can't join in on. No, she was mad at him for something else.

She had warned him, with her usual kind yet hesitant smile, that if he didn't take care of himself that he could break his arm. He had tried following her orders but the warning seemed to end up filed in the back of his head and he had gone on practicing like before, now that the pain was gone. And, of course, he inevitably broke his arm.

He still remembered the painful clench in his gut when he saw the anger on her face two days ago when she first saw that he had broken his arm. Of course, she would be mad that he had ignored her warnings, anyone would. A lead ball dropped into his stomach when he thought about how much he messed up, how disappointed she must be in him.

The weird feeling in his gut so much worse that he almost began to curl in on himself when a slam from behind him made his head snap up and turn to look-

* * *

><p>Tsuna had never liked mornings, but she had to say that she never wanted to repeat this one. It all started when Gokudera appeared at her gates that morning with an overly cheery greeting that she was sure would make her neighbors look at her weird forevermore. They then proceeded to walk to school as Gokudera switched from chatting amiably with her to glaring at anyone who walked within 10 feet of her.<p>

It got so bad that he almost punched a cute old lady for bumping Tsuna with her shopping bags. Tsuna had to pull him aside after that one to lecture him about the need for discretion and the fact that _not everyone was after her life_. It was a great relief to her when she finally spotted the gates of the school, even if there was a risk of running into Hibari since her lecture put them behind schedule.

But, of course, her awful morning couldn't just end there when she looked up and glanced a pair of legs hanging from the roof. One name ran through her mind as she quickly ditched Gokudera with a lame excuse and began running towards the stairs to the rooftop: Yamamoto. How could she have forgotten about him? Even with the fact that she was busy trying not to be suspended she should have remembered him since the school was literally filled with talk about his accident. It was pretty much all they talked about.

She pushed her berating thoughts to the back of her head as she gulped another breath full of air and burst through the door leading to the roof. Her eyes sought the turning figure of Yamamoto, and as her eyes locked with his a whoosh of relief passed through her and she slid to the ground where she stood. He wasn't going to jump.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she processed the thought. How did she know? He might very well jump off this moment, but Tsuna shook her head at that. She knew. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew the moment that she locked eyes with him that he had no intention to jump. Then she let a sigh of exasperation. She had ran all the way here, up stairs!, for no frickin' reason. Simply fantastic.

"Um, Tsuna? You okay?" The hesitant voice of Yamamoto called out. Tsuna's hair had covered her face so he hadn't seen any of the facial expressions that had passed in the last few seconds but even he knew it was weird that she had burst in and then just deflated.

"I'm fine, Yamamoto-kun. I just have the sudden feeling that I'll be getting a lot of head aches soon." Tsuna groused as she massaged her temples. Yamamoto chuckled and his old smile returned to his face as he looked at Tsuna's slouched form.

"That's not good, Tsuna. You should do something about all that stress before it gets to be to much." His grin falling a bit in uncertainty as Tsuna looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you Yamamoto-kun?" She accused as she got up off the ground and walked over to him. The smile faltered and died as he looked nervously down at his hands.

"I was right. You are mad at me." He said with the most pitiable expression Tsuna had ever seen. It rivaled Gokudera's kicked puppy look.

"How did you get that idea in your head? There's no reason for me to be mad." She said, she could feel a head ache roar up behind her eyes, ready to strike at any minute.

"It's because I ignored your warning about taking it easy and hurt my arm anyways." He was quite sure about this. "I saw how mad you were two days ago when I came to school with my broken arm. You don't have to hide it, everyone else is too." Okay, now Tsuna was stunned. Did he really think that she was like all those other heartless people in their class.

"I'm not mad at you, Yamamoto-kun." She denied with a shake of her head as she sat down next to him, just behind the fence.

"Then why did you look so mad?" His confusion was evident on his face, and a light blush coated Tsuna's cheeks. She didn't really want to share the reason why she had been mad, it was kind of embarrassing now that she thought about it, but the look that he was giving her prodded her along into telling him.

"Well, um, I was mad because, well..." She trailed off a bit as she let her hand fall nervously to the back of her head, a habit that stayed from original Tsuna. "I thought it was... rude of them to talk about your wound so outrightly when it obviously pained you to hear it. So, I got mad." She finished sheepishly, now staring intently at her hands, but when she glanced up she was surprised to see a blinding smile on his once somber face.

Yamamoto didn't know why, but hearing her say that she wasn't mad at him seemed to take away that painful, gut clenching feeling that had almost overwhelmed him. Now that he thought about it, as soon as Tsuna arrived on the roof top he didn't feel so lost and lonely anymore, and the pain had eased up, though it had also flipped and turned uncomfortably at the sight of her slumped in a sitting position on the floor, obviously exhausted.

"Haha, that's good to hear." He said amiably, then, he remembered the question that he had wanted to ask her when she suddenly burst through the door. "By the way, why are you up here?" A darker blush filled Tsuna's cheeks at the question and she couldn't help herself from mumbling the answer back.

"I thought you were going to jump."

Yamamoto's eyebrows rose in surprise at the statement. The thought had never even crossed his mind, but, when he looked at his position, on the other side of the fence, feet dangling off the edge, right after an accident that had people turning away from him, he could see how she thought that. Of course, to him, it made the situation just that much funnier. Who knew Tsuna cared so much?

He couldn't help but notice the slightly miffed pout that had settled on her face in the middle of his peals of laughter. What made it even funnier was that he was sure that she was trying to glare, but, as he said, it was a definite pout. Tsuna sighed as she looped her fingers in the chain link fence and resigned herself to wait out his laughing fit. He was obviously hysterical, so why try and reason with him?

"So," She started as his laughing finally died down. "You gonna climb back over to this side of the fence, or what? Cause I, myself, don't much prefer heights and you're really freaking me out by being that close to the edge." _ 'Well, not really.'_ She thought. _'But if it gets him back over here and away from the threat of falling, I'll finally be able to relax.'_

"Haha, that's no good Tsuna. You have to face your fear head on!" He said joyfully. _'Oh My God, is it just me or is he channeling Ryohei a bit there.'_ She was pretty sure her eye twitched.

"Yeah, Yeah. Just get your butt over on this side already." Was her crass reply. She did _not _ want to be shot by a dying will bullet, cause the more that she got shot the faster that creepy doctor would appear.

"Alright, I'll be over there in a sec." He said, his old smile now a permanent fixture on his face again.

Tsuna resisted the urge to help him get over the fence, even if he was having trouble getting back over with a broken arm. After all, the fence probably wouldn't be able to handle any extra weight that would be put on it. It had snapped so easily in the manga after all. But, then, there was a jingle and a clang as one side of the gate wrenched free of the rest of the chains with just of enough force that Yamamoto, in his surprise, let go of it. And then promptly fell backwards.

"Yamamoto!" She cried out as she lunged forward and grabbed hold of his hand, his air born body, with the help of gravity, was just enough weight to bring the fence down to the ground, Tsuna following close after. She was jostled by the crash landing but she still had a grip on his hand, though it was weak and slipping by the second. She brought her other hand, which was bleeding from landing on the broken wire of the fence, to grab hold as well, but it still wasn't enough.

His own weight was dragging her forward towards the edge of the roof and she had to grit her teeth and shut her eyes in concentration against the pain she felt as her body scraped against the metal of the fence. Oh, how she wished that Reborn was there to shoot her with the dying will bullet. She didn't care if that perverted doctor came the very next day, as long as he was able to get them out of this situation.

"Tsuna," Yamamoto's voice interrupted. "Let go." His voice was sure and confident and Tsuna's previously closed eyes snapped open to stare down at his determined face. He seemed resigned to dying, and that just pissed her off.

"Why the hell should I, dumb ass!" She yelled, her facing morphing into an actual glare. "If I feel like dropping you then I'll drop you, until then you better as hell hang on!" There was open disbelief on Yamamoto's face.

"But..." He tried to protest, but Tsuna cut him off.

"No 'buts'!" Her determined face held no argument and Yamamoto could only bite his lip in worry, thinking his stupidity had pulled another person with him to death.

Just then, a shot rang out, and Tsuna's head reared back in blank surprise as a blunt, burning force punctured her forehead. Her body slumped forward and Yamamoto's hand slipped from Tsuna's lax fingers and he began his decent down thinking that at least Tsuna didn't have to share his fate. However, when he planned to have one last look at her face before closing his eyes and preparing for a painful death, he spotted an orange flame flickering to life on her forehead. And then, much to his surprise, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his waste.

And before he could even process more then a set of burning orange eyes, he was slammed into the branches of a tree, which shouldn't have been possible because the only tree anywhere near the area they were at was _across the road from the school_. Then, gravity took affect yet again and they began a bumpy decent down towards the ground where they landed with a crash of tangled limbs.

By the time that they had sorted everything out the flame on Tsuna's head was gone and they were both a bit giddy after their near brush with death. So, when an innocent little leaf decided to float down and land peacefully on Yamamoto's head, after everything they had gone through, they laughed, quite hysterically.

Of course, it was rather short lived as Gokudera, who had been ditching class since Tsuna wasn't there and was able to see their display on the roof's edge, blundered through the bushes yelling out 'Principessa!' It would have been slightly amusing if it wasn't for the fact that he promptly tugged her away from Yamamoto and to his side as he spouted cuss words left and right.

God, here comes the headache.

* * *

><p>Reborn let a smug smirk play out on his face as he watched Tsuna interact with her two new subordinates. This was going easier then he thought it would. Then the smirk wavered off into a frown. It shouldn't have been this easy. He should have had to use force and mean tricks to get this girl to do anything mafia related, but, whenever she denied it, it seemed fake to him. Like she wasn't actually all that against becoming apart of the mafia. In fact, except for the little bout of depression at the beginning, she hadn't been all that freaked out about it. Which wasn't in the description he was given of her.<p>

Sawada Tsunako was supposed to be a pathetic little girl with no friends, a penchant for failure, zero self esteem, and probably some social issues. That's not what he got. He got a girl who escaped from his mafia seduction in the blink of an eye, who faced her fears (the stupid chihuahua.), didn't have as many social problems as he thought (though there were still some there), barely needed him to shoot her with the Dying Will Bullet, and took it on herself to learn parkour and get in shape (which she was actually doing good at, which was another surprise.).

All in all, the chick that he was teaching was different then who he was lead to believe that she was. This is either because she is really good at hiding, needed a little incentive to do her best (which was unlikely because she already had tons of it), or she wasn't who he thought she was. Either way, he had to take this slowly and cautiously. It was best not to alert anyone that he thought he might be dealing with an impostor so it was best if he just kept on with his original plans. He was here to train the future Vongola Decimo and that was what he was going to do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Seeing as several people have asked: yes, there will be a pairing. I will be putting up a poll on my profile when i have introduced more of the guys. So, fro now, please be patient. And thank you for all your reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Hey, sorry for the wait. for some reason summer break has been making me super lazy :P I have had, yet again, more queries about the pairing. This will be pretty much an **ALL/27** pairing until I get enough of the guys gathered and the I will have **a poll to vote for who you want Tsuna to be with. **I currently only have two of the guys that I will put on the poll in the story. So, your just going to have to wait.

* * *

><p>Tsuna officially hated History. It's not like it's her fault that she had never had any type of Japanese History class before since she had only lived there for, like, a year when she was still Kross. She couldn't exactly rely on Original Tsuna's memories about it, either, since her memories were shoddy at best when it came to school. Why, oh why, did Original Tsuna have to be such a dumb ass? Even if she had just been a mediocre student it would have been better.<p>

She could be out hanging with her new friends/subordinates, or reading manga, or playing a video game on the severely outdated console that the Sawada household owned. Not that she minded the literal fossil, she actually loved antique games. But, anyway, back to the point. Original Tsuna sucks, History is kicking her ass in more ways then one, and Reborn is making her life a personal hell.

Now, she had to admit, it was quite funny when she read about Reborn's teaching methods in the manga, but, when the baby used explosives on her, it wasn't funny at all. Scary, yes. Dangerous, yes. Funny, no. So, when a cow suited toddler appeared in the tree outside her window and caused her to lose concentration and get blown up by Reborn, all sympathy for him was lost.

_'Fuck the cow!'_ She thought heatedly. _'Everything worked out just fine in the manga, it can work out just fine now! Who cares if I can save him some pain? The little brat deserves it!'_ Were her evil and not very considerate thoughts. After all, it's not like Lambo did it on purpose.

Of course, she wasn't exactly in her right mind either. Reborn _had_ just blown her up a few seconds ago. And, while it's not exactly lethal, there had to be some sort of mental damage and shock going on in there. So, let's all just ignore her mean spiritedness for the moment until her brain is right again.

'…...'

There, that should do. Now then, back to the story.

_'Holy shit, holy shit! Cow with a knife, cow with a knife!' _Were Tsuna's first wonderfully, captivating thoughts. Of course, that would probably be most peoples thoughts when faced with a toddler wearing a cow suit and charging at you with a knife. Ok, so Lambo wasn't exactly charging at her, more like Reborn, but it was good enough.

She might have freaked out a bit more but just then Reborn slammed the poor boy into the wall. Then she just watched on in a detached deadpan as he began to cry and introduce himself in that annoying way of his. Reborn just ignored him though and asked her a question about the Heian period, they were just reviewing all that they had studied at that point so she was able to answer the question quite easily as she continued to stare at the cow child.

Lambo had brought out his bag of goodies by this time and was showing off his ten-year bazooka when Tsuna had a thought. _'All through the rest of the manga he grabs his weapons out of his afro,' _ She thought absently. _'So, where did the bag go? Did he trash it because he found his hair was a far better place to put things? Or was it put in his hair as well to hold the weapons all in one spot so they were easier to find?' _ And then that prompted another thought. _'Would Lambo's afro be considered hammer space?'_

Tsuna flinched as the hand grenade went off out the window and a bit of guilt wormed it's way into her head. She could have saved him from a lot of pain by just paying attention to him from the beginning. But, then again, was it really worth the extra effort when things would turn out fine in the end? _'No,'_ Her overly exhausted mind supplied for her. _ 'No, it is not.'_ She also decided that studying wasn't good for her brain, it made her inhuman.

"Reborn, did you really have to be such a jerk." She asked the Arcabaleno. "After all, he's just a kid, probably not even a real threat, so couldn't you just be a little nicer? Like, when you deflect his attacks how about you send it _away_ from him, not at him." She very much doubted that he would actually pay attention to her suggestion.

"Well, that would depend on what you prefer." He stated with a nondescript shrug, like he really didn't care a royal fuck about the situation. "Would you rather me hit you or him with the attacks." Tsuna was struck silent and Reborn finally let a smirk slip onto his face.

Before she could reply she was called down the stairs by her mother. Nana was sporting naively worried expression as a dirty, blubbering Lambo cling to her capris. If only she new the real reason that Lambo was like that. Then she wouldn't be worrying about Lambo but about how her daughter was stuck with a _psychotic baby hitman!_ Of course, that would never happen because Nana would never find out.

"Tsu-chan," Nana reprimanded. "You're the oldest so you she be the one to stop their fights when they get a little out of hand. After all, they're just kids and don't know what they're doing is wrong. You have to set them straight! It'll be good practice for when you have kids of your own!" She ended happily as she handed Lambo off to her. She really didn't want to think about children of her own since she had no idea how long she would be able to stay here in this world and for all she knew she'd be put into a political marriage. Tsuna shuddered at the thought.

Tsuna looked at the kid stuck to her leg with a sigh. She was so glad that she had decided to wear pants today, it would be so gross if she had been wearing shorts. Walking awkwardly into the kitchen she grabbed the bag of grapes that her mother had gotten just the other day and was about to walk out of the door when she paused and grabbed a stack of napkins as well. Best to be prepared.

Tsuna glanced down at Lambo, who was still stuck to her leg, and noticed that he had calmed down enough that he was no longer crying and just sniffled now and then. He was looking at her curiously, obviously confused about the reason why she was ushering him outside. She handed him a few grapes, which effectively made him release her leg, and took a hold of his hand, she would probably have to explain things to him.

"You don't want to go see Reborn, right?" She asked and emphatic nods followed her question. She grinned. "Thought so. That's why we're gonna go to the river bank and we can just sit there and play till you wanna head back home, k?" All he did was look up at her with big, round eyes, like she was the most amazing person in the world. What a weird kid.

Soon enough, Lambo was rolling through the grass at the bank of the river, totally forgetting about Reborn. Despite how much trouble Male Tsuna had with Lambo, she found him easy enough to control. You'd just have to know how to train animals. Well, not really, but it seems like it should.

"Lambo-kun, why don't you show me a cartwheel." Tsuna said as she reached in to the bag of grapes at her side. Lambo looked at her, then at the bag, and began doing several cartwheels. He was surprisingly dexterous for a 5 year old. "Good job, Lambo-kun." She praised as she tossed the grape she had taken from the bag into the air and watched in amusement as he lunged for it and caught it in his mouth.

She found out very quickly that if you had something he liked he would do almost anything to get it. The very first thing she did with her new found power was to tell Lambo that 'Loud kids don't get snacks.' and he quickly shut up. Of course, it didn't last very long and every ten minutes she would have to renew it, but it was better then nothing.

After a while, Lambo got tired of playing and came over to cuddle up to her. It was almost too cute with his eyes all droopy and him clinging to her clothes. It was all she could do not to let out a fan girl giggle and squeeze him to death. No, killing her lightning guardian would not be productive. So, best to just ask him the questions and bring him back home.

"So, Lambo-kun, how'd you meet Reborn?" She asked and almost cooed as he looked up at her with sleepy eyes. But then he went on an obnoxious tirade about how he met Reborn for the first time, and about how _frickin_ great he was, and how he was going to kill Reborn, yada yada. Pretty much he just spewed utter bullshit and lost all of his cute factor.

` "Oh, is that so?" She asked, half-listening to the crap that he was spewing. Soon enough his tirade slowed down to a trickle before it stopped and he returned to being sleepy and lying limply against Tsuna's form. "It's time to get you back home so you can go to sleep. Where do you live?" _Ok, so far so good. He's not freaking out yet._ "I have to get back home soon or my mom'll worry."

_Oh, God. Oh, God. Wrong thing to say!_

Sure enough, Lambo was now clamped tightly to her leg. Freaking out just a bit, Tsuna automatically starting trying to pull the boy off of her but he held on with all his toddler might and she inevitably lost. She quickly grabbed the bag full of grapes so she could get the snot monster off of her and her heart dropped as she gazed into the empty bag. Stuffing the bag into her pocket, because, if anything, she could suffocate the little beast till he let go, she grabbed onto his horns once again and began to tug.

"Come on, Lambo! Just let go and I promise I'll take you back home with me!" But at this time Lambo was wailing, tears flying everywhere, and snot sliding down his face, and was no longer listening to her. "I'll take you home! I'll take you home! Dammit! Do you not understand Japanese you stupid brat! Gaah! **Mucca stupida! Lasciami già! Ti porterò a casa con me! Io. ti. porto. a. casa**_! _(Stupid cow! Let go of me already! I'll take you home with me! I'll. Take. You. Home!)"

As soon as Lambo heard her talking in his native tongue he froze and stared up at her with wide, amazed eyes. Soon enough, Lambo's grip was loosening bit by bit and he landed limply on his butt as he continued to stare up at her. By now, Tsuna was starting to get nervous, thinking that she might have broken Lambo's small brain. So, with a hesitant smile she grabbed hold of Lambo's hand and pulled him up into a standing position.

"Let's go home now Lambo-kun." Tsuna said as she began pulling Lambo forward, but he pulled back suddenly and began to thrash about.

"No, no, no! Lambo-sama doesn't like it! No, I don't!" He yelled as he threw himself to the ground. Tsuna froze, unsure of what brought upon the tantrum and had no idea how she was going to fix it. "I like the other one! The other one!"

"What are you talking about, Lambo-kun! You're making no sense!" Tsuna yelled out in frustration, but it only seemed to make Lambo worse as he rolled around in the grass.

"Not Lambo_-kun!_ Don't like _-kun!_" Lambo shouted out as he began to pound the ground with his fists. "Not that one! Other one!" Tsuna was frantic at this point as she tried to figure out what Lambo was talking about. Then it clicked.

"Mucca. You want me to call you mucca." _Cow,_ She repeated silently to herself, _ He wants me to call him cow. In Italian. God, this kid is so annoying. _And sure enough Lambo calmed down right away and stood up and grinned at her, his face a compete 180 0f what it just was. Tsuna's eye twitched but just sighed in resignation as she grabbed his hand. "Come on, Mucca, let's go home. I'm tired."

* * *

><p>As soon as Nana left the room Tsuna jumped up from the dinner table and began frisking Lambo, getting rid of all the dangerous items on his person. This, of course, gained a raised eyebrow from Reborn and several squawks of protest from Lambo.<p>

"Shush! Good boys don't carry dangerous weapons." She chided him as she grabbed the pile of deadly items that she had collected and placed them on the other side of the table. "So, be good and eat your dinner." Lambo pouted a bit before taking his first tentative bite of the food placed before him and then he was soon scarfing it down. Tsuna snorted in amusement at this before sitting down herself and started eating her dinner.

"It seems you're quite attached to the thing, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn stated after a moment of silence. "Who knew you had motherly instincts." Tsuna choked on the water she was sipping and stared incredulously at Reborn before tentatively answering.

"No... I wouldn't say motherly instincts. More like survival instincts then anything." She stated as she took another bite of her food. "And Lambo isn't a thing Reborn. He's a person."

"It's a lower life form, it doesn't deserve to be addressed as anything else." Was Reborn's rude response. Tsuna couldn't help but notice that Lambo seemed to be paying attention to their conversation now, likely because his name had been mentioned. "And anyone who interacts with the brat has to have survival instincts considering all the trouble it gets into through it's stupidity."

Now Lambo's full attention was directed at Reborn, a furious expression on his face. Tsuna was very glad that she had decided to take away all of his weapons or he was sure to have attacked Reborn just then. As if to show that her theory was correct Lambo began scrounging around in his afro and clothes, trying to find his confiscated weapons. A dismayed look came onto his face as soon as he noticed that he was out of artillery, but then he looked down at the fork in his hand...

Tsuna could only watch as Lambo chucked his fork at Reborn only for it to be bounce off of Reborn's fork and be sent back to impale Lambo on the head. Blood started oozing from his wound and Tsuna leapt up to pull it from his skull, which, of course, only made him bleed more. She could only watch as Lambo ran around the room with blood spurting out of his head like a fountain before he tripped and began sniffling quietly as he began shuffling around with something.

Tsuna couldn't help but watch in anticipation as Lambo retrieved the Ten-Year Bazooka from his afro, the one weapon that Tsuna had purposefully left in there, and aim it at himself. A puff of pink smoke filled the room and, after a bit of coughing, it cleared out to reveal the Ten-Year Later Lambo. He took one look around the room before slapping a hand over his face and a sighed 'Not again.' slipped out of his mouth.

"Hi, Nee-chan." Lambo said with a slight wave. Tsuna stared at him blankly. _Nee-chan?_ "Ah, that's right. It's me, cry baby Lambo. I'm ten years older now thanks to the Ten-Year Bazooka." He scratched the back of his head a bit before putting in an awkward smile. "Surprise?" Tsuna really didn't know what she was supposed to say so she did the safest thing possible.

"Reborn, you didn't put anything into the food to make me halluciante did you?" Tsuna asked the Arcabaleno. A bit of a dark aura descended on the baby and Tsuna couldn't help but mentally smack herself. How had she thought that that course of action was safe?

"Of course not, Dame-Tsuna. How stupid could you be?" Tsuna let out a small, indignant growl at his sarcastic response and he just smirked smugly down at her. "The Bovino Famiglia is well known for it's weird inventions, the most famous of which is the Ten-Year Bazooka, which is thought to be more of a legend then an actual real life object. You should feel privileged that you were able to witness it in action." Reborn gave a snort. "Seems the cow brat did something right for once when he brought that out." Tsuna was silent for a moment as the last sentence fully processed in her mind.

"Wait, wait, wait. Did you just compliment and acknowledge Lambo as a person in the same sentence?" Tsuna asked incredulously. "I mean, how could you just change your mind so fast on that?" Reborn just smirked back at her.

"Isn't it obvious? This Lambo and that crying thing are completely different." Was his ambiguous reply. "After all, he is your lightning." Confusion flashed across Tsuna's face and she battled to keep it there so he wouldn't see her look of understanding as his words processed through her mind.

Just as she was about to reply back, demanding for a better answer, she heard sniffles from the side. Turning she couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise as she stared at the hunched form of teenage Lambo, who had now burst into silent tears.

"L-LAmbo-kun, are you okay? What's wrong?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask in worry as she stared at the sad sight in front of her. Lambo just raised his eyes so they locked onto hers, and gave her a full view of his face, which was in a pissed pout.

"I come here, Nee-chan, and you ignore me. Spending the whole time talking with _Reborn._" Was his sullen reply as he glared daggers at the Arcabaleno. "I haven't seen you in forever, so why won't you pay attention to me? And you said you wouldn't call me that. I _hate it_ w-when you c-call m-me th-tha- *Hic* Uuwaaaaaaah~!" Unable to finish his sentence Lambo burst into full on tears and fled the room, leaving only stunned silence behind.

"It seems that the cow is quite attached to you Dame-Tsuna." Reborn said finally and Tsuna could only let out a distracted nod as she stared at the door that Lambo had just left through. "And I take back my prior statement. Even ten years later that thing is still a lower life form.

Tsuna could only stare at him for a few seconds, far to drained from the day to think up something to say right away. However, when she did, it was a response truly fitting the complexity of her mind.

"Harsh."

* * *

><p>Tsuna's eyes blinked open and stared out across the room just long enough to notice that it was pitch black before a tugging sensation was processed through her mind. Lifting her head she peered over her shoulder and spotted Lambo, who was currently tugging at the blanket she had tightly wrapped around herself. She had just enough time to raise one amused eyebrow before he gave a particularly hard tug and sent both of them tumbling to the ground.<p>

"Gupyah!" Was Lambo's yell of pain as Tsuna landed on him. She quickly sat up and got off him but apparently it wasn't enough for Lambo. "Stupid! Why did you land on Lambo-sama! Stupid, stupid, Dame-Tsuna!" A tick mark appeared on Tsuna's forehead and she grabbed hold of Lambo's cheeks and began stretching.

"Bad boy, La-Mucca! Do not be so disrespectful!" Tsuna reprimanded and a little more force on his cheeks soon had Lambo spouting apologies. She let go of him and watched with a critical eye as he held his tender cheeks. Once she was satisfied that he wouldn't freak out she asked him the question that popped into her head when she first spotted him. "So, why are you in here?" Lambo jumped as if startled and looked sheepishly down at his feet.

"Lambo-sama did not like his room. It was too roomy and dark and the dreams weren't nice either." He stated, and then seemed to notice what he had just admitted to and tried to scrounge up as much pride as he could. "But Lambo-sama wasn't scared. Not at all! I just felt that you would feel the same and would need me to protect you from the nasties!" And then topped it off with his obnoxious laugh. Tsuna let off a snort of amusement before picking him up and placing him on her bed.

"Of course, my thanks Mucca. I'm sure nothing will dare to mess with me now." Was her sarcastic reply. But, Lambo being Lambo, he had no idea and took her words seriously, puffing up his chest in a parody of manliness. "Come on, let's just go to sleep." She said as she lay down next to him and placed the blanket over the both of them.

Lambo cuddled up to her almost immediately and Tsuna couldn't help but smile at how cute he was as he dropped to sleep almost immediately. It seemed that the whole Lambo thing went off without any major problems and he turned out better then the Lambo that she had seen in the manga all the time. The biggest problem that she could see was the whole Ten-Year Later Lambo being overly attached to her, but that could always be fixed later.

Tsuna was drifting to sleep now, a content smile on her face, as her exhaustion caught up with her. She took one last, deep breath before... Landing flat on her face on the floor. Tsuna bolted upright to glare at the sleeping form of Lambo who was now spread eagle on her bed. It seems that Lambo moves in his sleep. A gurbled 'More candy pwease~...' floated over to her from her bed. So, not only does he sleep _move_ but he sleep _ talks_ as well...

"God, I hate that cow."

* * *

><p>"Tsuna. Hey, Tsuna." Yamamoto's voice broke through the daze that Tsuna had fallen into and she jolted up to look at him from where he sat next to her. "You okay? You're pretty out of it today."<p>

"Um, oh, yeah, I'm just a little tired." Tsuna said dully as she gazed down at her History homework. "Lambo isn't the best sleeping partner."

That was the understatement of the century. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night between Lambo's constant movement and his blabber. When it finally came time to do her morning exercises she was practically falling asleep on her feet and she's pretty sure that she had dozed off in the middle of her push-up routine.

Now she was in the middle of a study session with Gokudera and Yamamoto because Yamamoto needed help in general and Tsuna needed him to help her with History. Of course, considering she keeps falling into a daze, she's not making much progress. In fact, she's so out of it that she just noticed that Gokudera and Lambo had entered into a shouting match that had been going on for that last ten minutes. Tsuna heaved a sigh before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a a piece of candy and hid it in her hand.

"Bad Mucca. Loud children don't get sweets." She said in a mostly monotone voice. Lambo froze almost immediately as his gaze switched between her and Gokudera who had paused to see how this would turn out. Finally, Lambo sat down silently as he waited for Tsuna's next command. "Good boy. Here's your treat." And she tossed the piece of candy into the air, which Lambo shot up and caught before proceeding to shove it in his mouth.

"He's like a dog..." Was all Gokudera had to say at the moment as he watched Lambo savor his sweet.

"Yeah, you could say that. Watch this." She stuck her hand back inside her pocket and produced another piece of candy. "Mucca, say sorry to Gokudera-kun for being rude." Lambo looked at Gokudera, looked at the piece of candy, and then put a hand to his cheek where Tsuna had pulled at them the night before and quickly mumbled out an apology. "Good boy." And she tossed his treat to him.

"Haha, this little guys pretty funny." Yamamoto said happily as he watched Lambo suck on the piece of hard candy. "But why do you keep calling him Mucca?"

"It means cow in Italian, dumb ass!" Gokudera yelled angrily at Yamamoto before doing a 180 and bringing his shining eyes to rest on Tsuna, who could only flinch at the gaze. "I didn't know you could speak Italian, Principessa! But I'm sure you're wonderful at it." He was so enthusiastic that Tsuna could puke. She _could not_ handle this crap without proper rest.

"Ah, yeah..." Was Tsuna's lazy reply as she stared, entranced, at Lambo's afro. After a few moments of staring she scooted forward and laced her fingers into the side of Lambo's afro and picked him up so she could look at him directly in the face. He, of course, paid no attention and continued to munch on his candy. "Do you know what I've been wondering? She asked them as she tilted Lambo to the side slightly, as if to get a better look at him.

"What?" Was Yamamoto's innocent query. He, of course, was not expecting the answer he got back.

"How can an obnoxious five year old, with a cow print body suit, a huge curly-ass afro, and horns sticking out of his head, be so _ frickin' _cute?" All of this was said mostly in monotone as she glared at the surprisingly soft afro that she was currently grasping hold of. There was a bit of an awkward silence and then...:

"Principessa? I think you need to get some sleep."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Sorry for the super late update XP. I don't want to bore you with the full details of why i was so late but, long story short, it had to do with the start of the school term. I got 7 periods and water polo (which only allowed me two hours by the end of the day to do hw with), midterms, a sudden wave of plot bunnies, and spacers for my teeth (which hurt like a bitch) all stopped me from updating. But, finally, I'm back and done with my sport, so hopefully I'll update more often. No promises.

* * *

><p>"Yo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto called out from across the school courtyard as Tsuna and Gokudera walked through the gate to the building. She paused in her conversation with Gokudera to look in Yamamoto's direction, a small smile on her lips.<p>

"Morning, Yamamoto." She said as soon as he got within a range. He gave her a laugh before throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"Tsuna, you should come watch the baseball game after school today." He said excitedly as he happily squeezed her against his side. "It'll be a great game!" His happiness however was cut off when Gokudera grabbed his arm from around Tsuna and flung it off of her.

"Who the hell do you think you're touching, Baseball freak!" He yelled angrily as he positioned himself between Yamamoto and his boss. Yamamoto, for his part, just looked at him as if he never even noticed that he was there, before tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Gokudera, did you come to school with Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked as he looked from Gokudera to Tsuna.

"Of course!" Was Gokudera's proud answer. "Principessa has entrusted me with her protection in the mornings. It's a job that only the most trusted are given." He had a smug smile on now as he gloated, but Yamamoto brushed it off as only he could do.

"Haha, walking together sounds fun! Can I join too?" He asked them, a big smile on his face, his mind completely glossing over the fact that Gokudera had said it was a job, not a get together.

"Dammit! What the hell did I just say!" Gokudera blew up at him. "This job is only for the most trusted of Principessa's Famiglia! You're not even in it to begin with, there's no way that you'd be trusted with her safety!" This caused Yamamoto to pause. Something obviously struck home in the words that Gokudera had callously said to him, and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he walked closer to the fuming bomber.

"I don't believe that you have any right to say anything about protecting Tsuna." Yamamoto said darkly, and Tsuna was sure that he was about to say even more and start a fight between them when a certain evil hitman appeared on the nearby tree.

"Of course he doesn't, but I do." Reborn quipped from his perch on the out hanging branch. "I also decide who joins the Famiglia. And I say he's in it."

The surprised faces of the three man group transformed quickly at these last words. Yamamoto was happy again, a big grin across his face, while Gokudera was openly outraged. Tsuna, well, Tsuna was pretty much speechless. After all, it was _her_ Famiglia, wasn't it? Shouldn't she be the one to decide who got in it? She would have said something about it but Gokudera beat her to it, in all of his hot-headed glory.

"Reborn-san!" He yelled respectfully. "You can't seriously be thinking about putting the clueless idiot in the Famiglia! He's nowhere near worthy of the honor!"

"Heh, well that's for me to decide and not you, right?" Reborn smirked down at Gokudera from the tree, a bit of a dark aura surrounded him and made the bomber take a nervous gulp. "That's why I propose a family entrance test. And by propose I, of course, mean that you either do it or you die." The menacing aura was now directed at Yamamoto, who was still smiling happily, even as the barrel of Reborn's gun was directed between his eyes.

"Of course," Yamamoto said, his eyes widening comically in a parody of being scared. "I'd hate to be shot. Whatever you say, kid." Despite the obviously fake tone of submission in Yamamoto's words, Reborn still let go of the dark aura as a smirk slipped on his face. After all, he had gotten the answer that he wanted.

"Good. Now, meet me at the side of the school next to the stairs in ten minutes." He said almost mischievously. "And if you don't show up you'll have to face the consequences." And he disappeared from the branches of the tree.

"Eh, what about schoo-!" Tsuna started, but she was too late to stop Reborn. It seems that the only thing that Tsuna could do now was follow after the small Arcabaleno, because while she was sure that he wouldn't actually kill her, he would still definitely be able to make her life a living hell.

A snicker behind her cause her to switch her attention from the branch that Reborn was just standing on to Yamamoto, who looked like the happiest guy in the world, like always. When he noticed that she was staring at him he dropped his arm onto her shoulders and began walking towards where Reborn had told them to meet.

"Kids are getting so much more creative these days, ne, Tsuna?" He let out a short chuckle. "And the toys are so realistic, too." Tsuna just let her face drop into a dead pan as she remembered exactly who she was dealing with. Gokudera just stalked behind them, muttering the entire time about stupid ass holes touching his boss inappropriately.

Just as they turned the corner into the side of the school a bullet whizzed past them, almost hitting Tsuna in the head. Of course, she let out a loud shriek that made Yamamoto drop his arm to cover his ears and Gokudera to flip out, scared that his precious boss was hurt. The source of this bullet was the ever sadistic Reborn as he sat contentedly on yet another tree planted on school grounds.

"Dame-Tsuna, You're late." He said as he let off another round of bullets in Tsuna's direction. They wouldn't hit her of course, Reborn made sure of that, but it would scare the hell out of her.

"Dammit! Stop that, Reborn!" She yelled as yet another bullet flew past her. "Besides, it's only been like five minutes since you said we had to meet you here! We're not late!"

"What are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna. You mean you didn't hear me?" Was his suddenly innocent answer. He even backed it up through making his eyes look wide and innocent. "I changed my mind at the last minute and said to meet me here in five minutes instead. By the way, it's been 6 minutes and 37 seconds. So, yes, you are late." Tsuna just let her jaw drop as she stared at the baby. Why must he be so cruel?

"Hey, I just thought of something." Yamamoto said randomly, cutting into the moment. "What's this test about anyways? I only got that it had something to do with a famigura and protecting Tsuna. But I have no idea what a fama-whatsit is and why she needs to be protected." Tsuna did a double face palm.

"A Famiglia is Tsuna's Mafia family, her closest confidantes." Reborn supplied helpfully, though it probably wouldn't do anything for Yamamoto. "Dame-Tsuna is the 10th generation heir to the Vongola Family, the largest and most powerful Mafia family in the world. Thousands literally bow down at the feet of the Vongola and Dame-Tsuna here, in all her incompetence, has to run it some day."

'I was called all they way over here to train her so that she won't completely screw up all the hard work that was put into the family so far. However, I can't be there for her always. Even though I'm tied to the Vongola I'm also the world's number one hitman, not a babysitter. That's why she must gather close friends that she can trust with her life to her Famiglia, it's an essential part of becoming the Decimo." Was the conclusion of Reborn's rather large speech. Well, not all that long, because it certainly can't compare to the crap that Tsuna gets from him in study sessions, but, still, long enough. Of course, it did nothing for Yamamoto just as Tsuna predicted.

"Wow," He said in a somewhat astonished tone of voice. "That's a really complicated game. I don't really understand, but it sounds like fun anyways!" And there goes the goofy grin.

"You still think it's a game you damn Baseball idiot!" Gokudera yelled as he crushed his cigarette with his teeth in his agitation. "This is why I say he shouldn't join, he's so unreliable! It'll get him killed." He finished with a brutal finality.

"Enough." Reborn said in a quiet, dangerous tone, it seems he was finally getting fed up with their bickering. He wanted to shoot at them already, dammit! "Let us begin the test. Over all it's pretty easy, all you have to do is dodge." And with that he whipped out several knives and chucked them in Yamamoto's direction, forcing the boy to dodge the sudden onslaught of pointy objects.

"Wait, Reborn!" Tsuna started, not even thinking about the repercussions of involving herself in the test. She surged forward towards the baby to intervene. "You can't just- Umph!" and she landed flat on her face courtesy of a clingy five year old. "How the hell did you get here, Lambo!" Tsuna felt Lambo stiffen against her legs and dread welled up in her. She cautiously peaked over her shoulder at him just in time for him to go into a full blown tantrum, his fists flying as he he rolled back and forth in the dirt. Why must he act like this every time she forgot to call him Mucca?

"Principessa! Are you okay?" Gokudera questioned just in time for Lambo to start yelling at the top of his lungs. All Gokudera did was send a disgusted look the toddlers way before helping his boss up from the ground.

"Yeah, thanks Gokudera-kun." She said as she brushed dirt off the front of her uniform. Just then an especially high pitched wail came from Lambo and the both of them winced, An irritated Gokudera turned and fixed a glare at Lambo before bringing back his leg and kicking the small child into a tree. "Ah! Gokudera-kun, what are you doing!"

"Getting rid of the damn pest, of course." He said angrily as he glared out across the field. "Keh, he's such a waste of air." Just then a large boom and a poof of pink exploded from the leaves of the tree followed by shouts of pain as someone fell heavily out of the branches.

"Ow, how the heck did the younger me get in a tree,? Though it's not the first time that this has happened..." Just then he looked up to see both Tsuna and Gokudera staring at him from where he sat on the ground, and a wary smile came onto his face. "So... what's up? Why'd my younger self switch out this time?" Tsuna coughed nervously.

"Um, well, that's be because Gokudera-kun kicked you into a tree." Was Tsuna's nervous explanation. Lambo just stared at her for a while, his face blank, before it suddenly lit up with recognition.

"The family entrance exam!" He said with a nod. "I'd almost forgotten that stupid thing that Aho-dera made you guys do."

"What do you mean 'you guys'? Only Yamamoto is taking the test." Tsuna said confusedly. Lambo looked back at her the same way.

"Really? But I'm sure I remember that both you _and_ Yamamoto had to take it." His eyebrows were knit together for a moment in silent thought before he gave a shrug and gave up. It didn't matter much anyway.

Just then a chill went down Tsuna's spine and she made a quick turn to face Reborn. She swore she just saw a gleam in his eye, but it disappeared before she could make sure. Still, she just couldn't shake off the bad feeling.

"What a great idea. Why don't you join in as well Dame-Tsuna?" His voice sounded out, as if in answer to the bad feeling crawling down her spine. "Wouldn't want to mess up the future now, would we?" Tsuna gaped at him, her mind almost refusing to fully grasp what Reborn had just said.

"Oh! That's a great idea. (Even if it was suggested by that bastard Reborn.)" Exclaimed Lambo from his spot on the ground. "Go on nee-chan, I'll even help out with the things to dodge." The smile on his face seemed so innocent, yet Tsuna couldn't help but feel like there was something hiding behind it.

"E-eh? What do you mean Mucca? You gotta be joking, right?" Tsuna asked hopefully as she slowly inched farther away from the Bovino. "Right?"

"Nee-chan should set by example, shouldn't she?" He asked innocently, a smile in his face. Reborn smirked.

"The stupid cow is right, it should be expected by the boss shouldn't it?" And with that he began to shoot at the ground near Tsuna's feet, forcing her out onto the projectile zone to avoid them. "We're still only on guns right now, but we'll be moving up to explosives soon. Have fun."

"Fun! Kyaa!" She was cut off as more bullets were shot her way and she took off running, her miserable voice trailing off behind her as she ran. "I'm wearing a skirt dammit!"

A sudden presence beside her broke her concentration and she tripped on a bit of earth that was upended by all the shots, but before she could fall onto the ground a hand shot out and gripped her elbow, pulling her back up. When she looked over it was a smiling Yamamoto that greeted her, and she returned it hesitantly.

Just then a succession of booms rang out and Tsuna looked over her shoulder to find Lambo shooting a huge missile launcher at them. With a scream from her, Yamamoto tugged her off to the side just in time for one of the missiles to whiz by and explode just ahead of them. The blast from the missile sent her to the ground along with Yamamoto.

"What the hell, Mucca! I thought you were supposed to be super attached to me or something!" Tsuna growled out as she pushed her upper half off the ground to glare angrily at the older teen. "It's like you actually want to hurt me!"

"You? Not really. You're future self though, is another matter." He said with a smile and an almost lazy sigh. "She gave quite the mean punishment to me earlier this week for messing up a mission and getting people hurt. So~, I'm letting off a bit of steam." he pulled the trigger, letting another round of missiles shoot out, making Tsuna and Yamamoto dive for safety.

"If it's the older me that did it to you then why are you taking it out on me?" Tsuna yelled frantically as Yamamoto directed her into another sharp turn that saved them from a horrible smoldering death. "Go to her about it!"

"Are you kidding? I'd get beat up in a second!" Lambo said with big eyes as he continued to shoot at them. "That's why I'm doing this, it's the much safer option. Plus I can get back at you for ignoring me the last time I popped in." Tsuna almost froze in disbelief but the bullets racing by her only allowed her a moment of pause before she was dodging again.

"You're a vindictive little bastard, aren't you!" She yelled behind her as she dived behind a tree for a few moments of safety.

"Taught by the best of course." Was the only reply she go before the tree that she hid behind blew to kingdom come.

"Enough talking, Dame-Tsuna. We're upping the level and if you don't pay attention you might actually die." Tsuna's face paled as she watched Reborn signal Gokudera to light up his dynamite and let it enter the fray.

She ran from her destroyed hiding spot, out of breath despite the fact that she had been doing all that jogging lately. Explosions went off left and right from Gokudera's bombs and soon enough Yamamoto joined back up with her, a look of concentration on his face as he avoided all the deadly projectiles. Despite his lack of smile, Tsuna had a feeling that he was excited about this whole experience.

All of a sudden the air was full of burning wicks, bullets, and missiles, making Yamamoto and Tsuna freeze in spot, nowhere left to go. Then they went off. Explosions were everywhere and smoke billowed into the sky, causing sight on the ground to be almost non-existent. The three attackers waited silently, wondering if they had survived, though they weren't too worried about it.

A gust of wind parted the cloud of smoke and out stumbled Yamamoto with Tsuna hanging off his shoulder and unsteady on her feet. Her head was bent forward and wobbled here and there as a beaming Yamamoto dragged her over to everyone else. As soon as they got close Tsuna let herself drop to the ground in exhaustion, her hands rubbing her face tiredly.

"So, did we pass?" A grin brightened his face as he asked his question and he looked expectantly at Reborn.

"Yeah, you passed the test. Congratulations, you are now part of the Vongola Famiglia." Reborn tilted his fedora down as he stared at the slouching Tsuna who had yet to stop rubbing her face. Gokudera stalked towards him menacingly before grabbing hold of Yamamoto's shirt, a grin of his own appearing on his face.

"Good job, you protected Principessa in my absence." Gokudera congratulated, which earned him a returning grin, but then his face froze as he remembered something. With a short turn he was looking back down at Tsuna who still refused to get up from her position on the ground.

"Tsuna, you okay?" He asked in concern as he watched her continuously rub her face back and forth as if she wasn't even aware that she was doing it.

"Jus'a bit disoriented." She mumbled out distractedly, but then her rubbing stopped and she looked up, her eyes peeking out from behind her fingers. Her eyes were wide and she seemed slightly panicked as she began to rub her hand right above her left eye. "Wha...?" And she brought them away to look up at the two staring down at her. "I, I'm... Please tell me I'm not missing an eyebrow." She pleaded up at them.

They both stared a moment in shock, because, sure enough, the eyebrow above her left eye was missing. Then a snort escaped Lambo's mouth, a few more slipping through before he slapped a hand down onto it. Of course, it didn't help much because it was rather obvious that he was laughing due to the muffled sounds and the way his face twisted up as he tried to hold it back.

Tsuna stared in shock at him, completely unbelieving that he would be so insensitive about her plight. However, what really drove in the stake was when Yamamoto let out a snort of laughter himself. She could only stare as Yamamoto refused to look her in the eyes as his muffled snorts were held in by quivering lips. Then her eyes narrowed into slits as her surprise over the reaction wore off and was replaced by irritation.

"Shut up, you jerks!" She yelled as she grabbed a clump of broken up ground and tossed it at them. All they did was dodge to the side as they tried, and failed, to stop. "I'm not even the one who started this! Why do I get hurt?"

"You're hardly hurt, Dame-Tsuna. It's only hair." Reborn said nonchalantly as he cleaned the machine gun that he used for the test. "It'll grow back eventually."

"Yeah, _eventually!"_ She shrieked as placed a hand over her bald eyebrow. "People at school have enough to laugh at me about without finding another thing!" An eyebrow tick appeared as Lambo rolled on the ground behind her, his laughter rising to high heights unabashedly. "_Shut Up!_" She yelled as she grabbed a particularly hard looking piece of earth and chucked it at his head. It hit with a deadly accuracy and Lambo disappeared with a poof of pink smoke, revealing the toddler Lambo as he sat sucking on a lolly pop that he most certainly didn't have when he left.

"Hoho, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it?" Reborn asked, but was ignored as Tsuna began to wallow in her despair, rubbing her hand back and forth over her missing eyebrow. Seeing how down in the dumps his boss was Gokudera grabbed hold of Yamamoto's shirt again, though this time it wasn't so friendly.

"How dare you upset Principessa like that, you stupid ear lobe!" That shut Yamamoto up. In fact, all sign of his laughing died out o be replaced by confusion.

"Ear lobe?" He asked, his brows scrunched together. Gokudera sputtered a bit, his face going red.

"Yeah! That's what you are in the family, the ear lobe." Gokudera stated despite his obvious embarrassment.

"I would rather be the right hand, if you don't mind." Yamamoto's replied happily after a moment of contemplation. Gokudera let out an outraged squawk.

"Like hell you will!" He growled, reinforcing his grips on Yamamoto's shirt. "I'm the-" And then he suddenly paused guiltily and unsurely as his eyes flickered over to where Tsuna was sitting. At the sight of this Yamamoto's brows scrunched again, which seemed to have become his normal confused face.

"You're what? The right hand?" Yamamoto asked, and, despite the obvious innocence of the question, it seemed, to Gokudera, that the taller male was making fun of him. "Are you sure that Tsuna's aware of it?" That seemed to be it for Gokudera and he threw a punch at Yamamoto's face, who dodged it, with much confusion as to why it happened in the first place, and escaped from Gokudera's grip on his shirt.

"You smug bastard!" He yelled as Yamamoto dodged another attack from him. Reaching his hand back into one of his many hidden pockets he began groping around for some dynamite to toss at Yamamoto. However, before he could actually grab any, a hand on his sleeve followed by a sharp tug stopped him.

"Will you guys stop fighting!" Tsuna yelled, her single eyebrow twitching. A snort escaped Yamamoto's mouth again and she shot him a glare before returning to look back at Gokudera. "I believe we've had enough with explosions today, don't you think?" Gokudera gave her a weary nod, obviously cowed by the look in her eyes. Of course, that still didn't stop him from sending glares at the baseball player.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna. I have a marker you can borrow if you want it." Reborn called out tauntingly, obviously enjoying his students misery. "I'm sure it'll look just fine once you color it in." Tsuna gave him a dirty glare before looking back at her two guardians with a sigh. The air between them was still heavy with competition and she knew that she was going to have to do something about it soon.

"Yamamoto." She said quietly, but it was still enough for both of them to turn their attention to her. "I'm sorry to say that the spot as my right hand has already been filled, Gokudera-kun was here first after all."

A wry smile fell onto her lips as she said that, and when Gokudera turned to her with adoration filled puppy eyes she didn't even flinch. That just showed how used to everything she was getting. At a glance Tsuna could tell that Yamamoto was a little disappointed by this, even though it was hidden by a smile.

"Not that you aren't important." She said as she looked past Gokudera and at the happy go lucky baseball player. "You _are_ apart of my Famiglia now, after all." She could help but blush at her own sappy words. Really, where was she getting this stuff? It didn't matter so much, though, when Yamamoto returned the words with his smile back at full force. Of course, the moment just had to be ruined.

"Oh, so you're finally acknowledging you're position as the next head now?" Reborn asked innocently. A tic appeared where her missing eyebrow was.

"Never!"


End file.
